Material radioassay and selection for the XENON1T dark matter experiment
E. Aprile (Physics Department, Columbia University, 0000000419368729, New York, NY, USA); J. Aalbers (Nikhef and the University of Amsterdam, 0000000084992262, Science Park, Amsterdam, Netherlands); F. Agostini (INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila, Italy, Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Bologna and INFN-Bologna, 0000 0004 1757 1758, Bologna, Italy); M. Alfonsi (Institut für Physik and Exzellenzcluster PRISMA, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 0000 0001 1941 7111, Mainz, Germany); F.D. Amaro (LIBPhys, Department of Physics, University of Coimbra, 0000 0000 9511 4342, 3004-516, Coimbra, Portugal); et al - Show all 121 authors
The XENON1T dark matter experiment aims to detect weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) through low-energy interactions with xenon atoms. To detect such a rare event necessitates the use of radiopure materials to minimize the number of background events within the expected WIMP signal region. In this paper we report the results of an extensive material radioassay campaign for the XENON1T experiment. Using gamma-ray spectroscopy and mass spectrometry techniques, systematic measurements of trace radioactive impurities in over one hundred samples within a wide range of materials were performed. The measured activities allowed for stringent selection and placement of materials during the detector construction phase and provided the input for XENON1T detection sensitivity estimates through Monte Carlo simulations.
