Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 38: Methods in Astroparticle Physics II

T 38.6: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 17:30–17:45, KS 00.004

Characterizing infrared scintillation light in xenon — •Robert Hammann, Kai Böse, Steffen Form, Luisa Hötzsch, and Teresa Marrodán Undagoitia — Max- Planck-Institut für Kernphysik

Xenon in gaseous and liquid form is a widely used target material for rare-event searches, including the direct detection of dark matter. Its scintillation properties in the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum are well-known and extensively used. However, the potential of infrared (IR) scintillation light remains largely unexplored. Characterizing this IR component is important for evaluating possible improvements in the physics output of future astroparticle detectors.

This contribution presents studies of xenon gas scintillation at room temperature using a dedicated setup equipped with an alpha particle source, as well as one IR- and two UV-sensitive photomultiplier tubes. This allowed the first time-resolved measurement of the IR scintillation response, revealing both a fast nanosecond-scale and a slow microsecond-scale decay component. Remarkably, our measurements showed that the IR light yield is comparable to the UV yield. We also investigated the effects of gas pressure and impurity levels on the IR signal.

Initial results with a dual-phase detector possessing broadband wavelength sensitivity are consistent with IR emission from the liquid xenon target and electroluminescence in the gas phase, indicating the potential of xenon-based detectors with multi-wavelength readout.

Keywords: xenon; scintillation; noble gas detectors; time projection chamber; infrared