Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 18: Instrumentation IV

HK 18.1: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 16:15–16:30, PHIL B 302

The LowRAD project: achieving ultra-Low background for the future liquid xenon experiments — •Ying-Ting Lin, Christian Weinheimer, Volker Hannen, Christian Huhmann, Lutz Althüser, Daniel Wenz, Robert Braun, David Koke, Philipp Schulte, and Patrick Unkhoff — Universität Münster, Institut für Kernphysik

Liquid xenon (LXe) has become a cornerstone medium for rare event detection, including searches for dark matter and neutrino physics. To achieve an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity for the next generation LXe experiment such as XLZD, the requirement of having ultra-low background must be satisfied, as even a trace amount of radioactive impurity can impact the sensitivity of the detector. The LowRAD project aims to establish the guidelines for the construction of cryogenic distillation systems capable of reducing the concentrations of the most critical radioactive impurities, 222Rn and 85Kr, to unprecedented levels. Demonstrators are actively under construction with their performance systematically evaluated. This talk will present the working principles and design choices of each system, including a multi-column configuration that maximizes xenon recovery and a novel heat pump dedicated to LXe distillation. Furthermore, online diagnostic systems are planned to enable continuous monitoring of, crucially, the level of background reduction. The emphasis will be placed not only on the performance, but also on the integrative design philosophy that ensures scalability and long-term operation.

Supported by the ERC Advanced Grant "LowRad" (101055063).

Keywords: liquid xenon; dark matter; rare event; radioactive background; background removal