In situ measurement of the electron drift velocity for upcoming directional Dark Matter detectors

• Published in: Journal of instrumentation 2014-01, Vol.9 (1), p.P01013-P01013
• Main Authors: Billard, J, Mayet, F, Bosson, G, Bourrion, O, Guillaudin, O, Lamblin, J, Richer, J P, Riffard, Q, Santos, D, Iguaz, F J, Lebreton, L, Maire, D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astrophysics; Dark matter; Detectors; Drift; Electron drift velocity; Gas mixtures; In situ measurement; Instrumentation and Detectors; Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysic; Physics; Reconstruction; Sciences of the Universe; Simulation; Three dimensional
• ISSN: 1748-0221; 1748-0221
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/9/01/P01013

Three-dimensional track reconstruction is a key issue for directional Dark Matter detection and it requires a precise knowledge of the electron drift velocity. Magboltz simulations are known to give a good evaluation of this parameter. However, large TPC operated underground on long time scale may be characterized by an effective electron drift velocity that may differ from the value evaluated by simulation. In situ measurement of this key parameter is hence needed as it is a way to avoid bias in the 3D track reconstruction. We present a dedicated method for the measurement of the electron drift velocity with the MIMAC detector. It is tested on two gas mixtures: CF sub(4) and CF sub(4) + CHF sub(3). The latter has been chosen for the MIMAC detector as we expect that adding CHF sub(3) to pure CF sub(4) will lower the electron drift velocity. This is a key point for directional Dark Matter as the track sampling along the drift field will be improved while keeping almost the same Fluorine content of the gas mixture. We show that the drift velocity at 50 mbar is reduced by a factor of about 5 when adding 30% of CHF sub(3).