Publication Date:
2011-10-20
Description:
The isomer 83m Kr with its half-life of 1.83 h is an ideal calibration source for a liquid noble gas dark matter experiment like the XENON project. However, the risk of contamination of the detector with traces of the much longer lived mother isotope 83 Rb( T ½ = 86.2 d) has to be ruled out. In this work the release of 83 Rb atoms from a 1.8 MBq 83 Rb source embedded in zeolite beads has been investigated. To do so, a cryogenic trap has been connected to the source for about 10 days, after which it was removed and probed for the strongest 83 Rbγ-rays with an ultra-sensitive Germanium detector. No signal has been found. The corresponding upper limit on the released 83 Rb activity means that the investigated type of source can be used in the XENON project and similar low-background experiments as 83m Kr generator without a significant risk of contaminating the detector. The measurements also allow t...
Electronic ISSN:
1748-0221
Topics:
Physics
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