Speaker
Dr
Thomas McElroy
(McGill University)
Description
The Light-only Liquid Xenon (LoLX) project aims to study the properties of light emission in liquid xenon (LXe). Investigating timing characteristics of both the scintillation and Cherenkov light, LoLX will explore the abilities of single-phase LXe detectors as particle detectors and in medical imaging devices. The first phase of the LoLX detector consists of 24 Hamamatsu VUV4 Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), giving a total of 96 channels arranged in an octagonal cylinder. Covering 92 of the channels are 225 nm long pass filters which block the Xe scintillation light allowing for independent measurements of the long-wavelength Cherenkov and VUV scintillation light. The first stage of LoLX aims to measure the Cherenkov and scintillation yields from $^{90}$Sr beta-decays and $^{210}$Po alpha-decays. This data is used to validate optical transport simulations using GEANT4 and verify measurements of the VUV light reflectivity performed at TRIUMF. This validation is a vital input into the design of next-generation LXe experiments. Future phases of the project will upgrade to fast waveform digitizers with 10 ps timing accuracy and 3D integrated digital SiPMs (from U.Sherbrooke). These upgrades will allow precision characterization of Xe scintillation and evaluation of the capabilities to separate the Cherenkov signal using the prompt arrival times. LoLX will begin commissioning in late summer with first data in early fall. The current state and outlook for the LoLX project will be presented.
Primary author
Dr
Thomas McElroy
(McGill University)
