arXiv subjects

P. Renschler

Publications and source records attributed to P. Renschler.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2015

Focal-plane detector system for the KATRIN experiment

The focal-plane detector system for the KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment consists of a multi-pixel silicon p-i-n-diode array, custom readout electronics, two superconducting solenoid magnets, an ultra high-vacuum system, a high-vacuum system, calibration and monitoring devices, a scintillating veto, and a custom data-acquisition system. It is designed to detect the low-energy electrons selected by the KATRIN main spectrometer. We describe the system and summarize its performance after its final installation.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2013

Dead layer on silicon p-i-n diode charged-particle detectors

Semiconductor detectors in general have a dead layer at their surfaces that is either a result of natural or induced passivation, or is formed during the process of making a contact. Charged particles passing through this region produce ionization that is incompletely collected and recorded, which leads to departures from the ideal in both energy deposition and resolution. The silicon \textit{p-i-n} diode used in the KATRIN neutrino-mass experiment has such a dead layer. We have constructed a detailed Monte Carlo model for the passage of electrons from vacuum into a silicon detector, and compared the measured energy spectra to the predicted ones for a range of energies from 12 to 20 keV. The comparison provides experimental evidence that a substantial fraction of the ionization produced in the "dead" layer evidently escapes by diffusion, with 46% being collected in the depletion zone and the balance being neutralized at the contact or by bulk recombination. The most elementary model of a thinner dead layer from which no charge is collected is strongly disfavored.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2012

The KATRIN Pre-Spectrometer at reduced Filter Energy

The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment, KATRIN, will determine the mass of the electron neutrino with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV (90% C.L.) via a measurement of the beta-spectrum of gaseous tritium near its endpoint of E_0 =18.57 keV. An ultra-low background of about b = 10 mHz is among the requirements to reach this sensitivity. In the KATRIN main beam-line two spectrometers of MAC-E filter type are used in a tandem configuration. This setup, however, produces a Penning trap which could lead to increased background. We have performed test measurements showing that the filter energy of the pre-spectrometer can be reduced by several keV in order to diminish this trap. These measurements were analyzed with the help of a complex computer simulation, modeling multiple electron reflections both from the detector and the photoelectric electron source used in our test setup.

physics.ins-det↗