arXiv subjects

W. Xu

Publications and source records attributed to W. Xu.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

MAJORANA Collaboration's Experience with Germanium Detectors

The goal of the \textsc{Majorana} \textsc{Demonstrator} project is to search for 0$νββ$ decay in $^{76}\mathrm{Ge}$. Of all candidate isotopes for 0$νββ$, $^{76}\mathrm{Ge}$ has some of the most favorable characteristics. Germanium detectors are a well established technology, and in searches for 0$νββ$, the high purity germanium crystal acts simultaneously as source and detector. Furthermore, p-type germanium detectors provide excellent energy resolution and a specially designed point contact geometry allows for sensitive pulse shape discrimination. This paper will summarize the experiences the \textsc{Majorana} collaboration made with enriched germanium detectors manufactured by ORTEC$^{\circledR}$. The process from production, to characterization and integration in \textsc{Majorana} mounting structure will be described. A summary of the performance of all enriched germanium detectors will be given.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

ACO-OFDM-Specified Recoverable Upper Clipping With Efficient Detection for Optical Wireless Communications

The high peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR) of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) degrades the performance in optical wireless communication systems. This paper proposes a modified asymmetrically clipped optical OFDM (ACOOFDM) with low PAPR via introducing a recoverable upper-clipping (RoC) procedure. Although some information is clipped by a predetermined peak threshold, the clipped error information is kept and repositioned in our proposed scheme, which is named RoC-ACO-OFDM, instead of simply being dropped in conventional schemes. The proposed method makes full use of the specific structure of ACO-OFDM signals in the time domain, where half of the positions are forced to zeros within an OFDM symbol. The zero-valued positions are utilized to carry the clipped error information. Moreover, we accordingly present an optimal maximum a posteriori (MAP) detection for the RoC-ACO-OFDM system. To facilitate the usage of RoC-ACO-OFDM in practical applications, an efficient detection method is further developed with near-optimal performance. Simulation results show that the proposed RoC-ACO-OFDM achieves a significant PAPR reduction, while maintaining a competitive bit-error rate performance compared with the conventional schemes.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2015

Status of the MAJORANA Demonstrator

The MAJORANA Collaboration is constructing the MAJORANA Demonstrator, an ultra-low background, 40-kg modular high purity Ge detector array to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in Ge. In view of the next generation of tonne-scale Ge-based neutrinoless double-beta decay searches that will probe the neutrino mass scale in the inverted-hierarchy region, a major goal of the Demonstrator is to demonstrate a path forward to achieving a background rate at or below 1 count/tonne/year in the 4 keV region of interest around the Q-value at 2039 keV. The current status of the Demonstrator is discussed, as are plans for its completion.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

eRHIC Design Study: An Electron-Ion Collider at BNL

This document presents BNL's plan for an electron-ion collider, eRHIC, a major new research tool that builds on the existing RHIC facility to advance the long-term vision for Nuclear Physics to discover and understand the emergent phenomena of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the fundamental theory of the strong interaction that binds the atomic nucleus. We describe the scientific requirements for such a facility, following up on the community-wide 2012 white paper, 'Electron-Ion Collider: the Next QCD Frontier', and present a design concept that incorporates new, innovative accelerator techniques to provide a cost-effective upgrade of RHIC with polarized electron beams colliding with the full array of RHIC hadron beams. The new facility will deliver electron-nucleon luminosity of 10^33-10^34 cm-1sec-1 for collisions of 15.9 GeV polarized electrons on either 250 GeV polarized protons or 100 GeV/u heavy ion beams. The facility will also be capable of providing an electron beam energy of 21.2 GeV, at reduced luminosity. We discuss the on-going R&D effort to realize the project, and present key detector requirements and design ideas for an experimental program capable of making the 'golden measurements' called for in the EIC White Paper.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2014

Disorder-induced Localization in a Strongly Correlated Atomic Hubbard Gas

We observe the emergence of a disorder-induced insulating state in a strongly interacting atomic Fermi gas trapped in an optical lattice. This closed quantum system free of a thermal reservoir realizes the disordered Fermi-Hubbard model, which is a minimal model for strongly correlated electronic solids. In measurements of disorder-induced localization obtained via mass transport, we detect interaction-driven delocalization and localization that persists as the temperature of the gas is raised. These behaviors are consistent with many-body localization, which is a novel paradigm for understanding localization in interacting quantum systems at non-zero temperature.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

A Dark Matter Search with MALBEK

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is an array of natural and enriched high purity germanium detectors that will search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of 76-Ge and perform a search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with masses below 10 GeV. As part of the MAJORANA research and development efforts, we have deployed a modified, low-background broad energy germanium detector at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility. With its sub-keV energy threshold, this detector is sensitive to potential non-Standard Model physics, including interactions with WIMPs. We discuss the backgrounds present in the WIMP region of interest and explore the impact of slow surface event contamination when searching for a WIMP signal.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2014

Electron energy and temperature relaxation in graphene on a piezoelectric substrate

We study the energy and temperature relaxation of electrons in graphene on a piezoelectric substrate. Scattering from the combined potential of extrinsic piezoelectric surface acoustical (PA) phonons of the substrate and intrinsic deformation acoustical (DA) phonons of graphene is considered in a (non-)degenerate gas of Dirac fermions. It is shown that in the regime of low energies or temperatures the PA phonons dominate the relaxation and change qualitatively its character. This prediction is relevant for quantum metrology and electronic applications using graphene devices and suggests a new experimental setup for probing electron-phonon coupling in graphene.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Background Model for the Majorana Demonstrator

The Majorana Collaboration is constructing a system containing 40 kg of HPGe detectors to demonstrate the feasibility and potential of a future tonne-scale experiment capable of probing the neutrino mass scale in the inverted-hierarchy region. To realize this, a major goal of the Majorana Demonstrator is to demonstrate a path forward to achieving a background rate at or below 1 cnt/(ROI-t-y) in the 4 keV region of interest around the Q-value at 2039 keV. This goal is pursued through a combination of a significant reduction of radioactive impurities in construction materials with analytical methods for background rejection, for example using powerful pulse shape analysis techniques profiting from the p-type point contact HPGe detectors technology. The effectiveness of these methods is assessed using simulations of the different background components whose purity levels are constrained from radioassay measurements.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

Testing the Ge detectors for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR

High purity germanium (HPGe) crystals will be used for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, where they serve as both the source and the detector for neutrinoless double beta decay. It is crucial for the experiment to understand the performance of the HPGe crystals. A variety of crystal properties are being investigated, including basic properties such as energy resolution, efficiency, uniformity, capacitance, leakage current and crystal axis orientation, as well as more sophisticated properties, e.g. pulse shapes and dead layer and transition layer distributions. In this paper, we will present our measurements that characterize the HPGe crystals. We will also discuss our simulation package for the detector characterization setup, and show that additional information can be extracted from data-simulation comparisons.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

A search for bremsstrahlung solar axions using the Majorana low-background BEGe detector at Kimballton (MALBEK)

A low-background, high-purity germanium detector has been used to search for evidence of low-energy, bremsstrahlung-generated solar axions. An upper bound of $1.36\times 10^{-11}$ $(95% CL)$ is placed on the direct coupling of DFSZ model axions to electrons. The prospects for the sensitivity of the Majorana Demonstrator array of point-contact germanium detectors to solar axions are discussed in the context of the model-independent annual modulation due to the seasonal variation of the earth-sun distance.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Status of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR experiment

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR neutrinoless double beta-decay experiment is currently under construction at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, USA. An overview and status of the experiment are given.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2013

The {\sc Majorana Demonstrator} Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay Experiment

The {\sc Majorana Demonstrator will search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the isotope Ge-76 with a mixed array of enriched and natural germanium detectors. The observation of this rare decay would indicate the neutrino is its own antiparticle, demonstrate that lepton number is not conserved, and provide information on the absolute mass scale of the neutrino. The {\sc Demonstrator} is being assembled at the 4850-foot level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. The array will be situated in a low-background environment and surrounded by passive and active shielding. Here we describe the science goals of the {\sc Demonstrator} and the details of its design.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2013

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR: A Search for Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay of Germanium-76

The {\sc Majorana} collaboration is searching for neutrinoless double beta decay using $^{76}$Ge, which has been shown to have a number of advantages in terms of sensitivities and backgrounds. The observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay would show that lepton number is violated and that neutrinos are Majorana particles and would simultaneously provide information on neutrino mass. Attaining sensitivities for neutrino masses in the inverted hierarchy region, $15 - 50$ meV, will require large, tonne-scale detectors with extremely low backgrounds, at the level of $\sim$1 count/t-y or lower in the region of the signal. The {\sc Majorana} collaboration, with funding support from DOE Office of Nuclear Physics and NSF Particle Astrophysics, is constructing the {\sc Demonstrator}, an array consisting of 40 kg of p-type point-contact high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors, of which $\sim$30 kg will be enriched to 87% in $^{76}$Ge. The {\sc Demonstrator} is being constructed in a clean room laboratory facility at the 4850' level (4300 m.w.e.) of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, SD. It utilizes a compact graded shield approach with the inner portion consisting of ultra-clean Cu that is being electroformed and machined underground. The primary aim of the {\sc Demonstrator} is to show the feasibility of a future tonne-scale measurement in terms of backgrounds and scalability.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2013

Three-Dimensional Anderson Localization in Variable Scale Disorder

We report on the impact of variable-scale disorder on 3D Anderson localization of a non-interacting ultracold atomic gas. A spin-polarized gas of fermionic atoms is localized by allowing it to expand in an optical speckle potential. Using a sudden quench of the localized density distribution, we verify that the density profile is representative of the underlying single-particle localized states. The geometric mean of the disordering potential correlation lengths is varied by a factor of four via adjusting the aperture of the speckle focusing lens. We observe that the root-mean-square size of the localized gas increases approximately linearly with the speckle correlation length, in qualitative agreement with the scaling predicted by weak scattering theory.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2013

Effect of nuclear deformation on direct capture reactions

The direct radiative capture process is well described by the spherical potential model. In order for the model to explain direct captures more accurately, the effect of the nuclear deformation has been added and analyzed in this work, since most nucleuses are not spherical. The results imply that the nuclear deformation largely affects the direct capture and should be taken into account during discussing direct capture reactions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Abnormal grain growth of rutile TiO2 induced by ZrSiO4

Abnormal grain growth (AGG) was observed in rutile TiO2 formed by the thermal treatment of anatase TiO2 in the presence of zirconium silicate. This morphological behaviour was seen to occur in sintered powder compacts and thin films with solid state zircon dopants and in TiO2 coatings on grains of zircon sand. In order to clarify the mechanism of AGG in this system, various doping methods were employed and the morphological consequences of these doping methods were investigated. It was found that doping by Zr and Si does not give rise to abnormal grain growth. The observed phenomena were discussed in terms of morphological and energetic considerations. It is likely that a distinct orientation relationship between rutile TiO2 and ZrSiO4 and possible grain boundary liquid formation play a role in giving rise to the rapid growth of faceted prismatic rutile.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Piezoelectric surface acoustical phonon limited mobility of electrons in graphene on a GaAs substrate

We study the mobility of Dirac fermions in monolayer graphene on a GaAs substrate, restricted by the combined action of the extrinsic potential of piezoelectric surface acoustical phonons of GaAs (PA) and of the intrinsic deformation potential of acoustical eigen-phonons in graphene (DA). In the high temperature ($T$) regime the momentum relaxation rate exhibits the same linear dependence on $T$ but different dependences on the carrier density $n$, corresponding to the mobility $μ\propto 1/\sqrt{n}$ and $1/n$, respectively for the PA and DA scattering mechanisms. In the low $T$ Bloch-Grüneisen regime, the mobility shows the same square-root density dependence, $μ\propto \sqrt{n}$, but different temperature dependences, $μ\propto T^{-3}$ and $ T^{-4}$, respectively for PA and DA phonon scattering.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Plasmon and coupled plasmon-phonon modes in graphene in the presence of inter-band excitation channels

Plasmon and coupled plasmon-phonon modes in graphene are investigated the-oretically within the diagrammatic self-consistent field theory. It shows that two plasmon modes and four coupled plasmon-phonon modes can be excited via intra-and inter-band transition channels. It is found that with increasing q and carrier density, the plasmon modes couple strongly with the optic-phonon modes in graphene. The coupled plasmon-phonon modes exhibit some interesting features which can be utilized to realize the plasmonic devices. Our results suggest that the carrier-phonon interaction should be considered to understand and explain the properties of elementary electronic excitations in graphene.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗