A compact ultra-clean system for deploying radioactive sources inside the KamLAND detector

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2014-10, Vol.769 (C)
• Main Authors: Banks, T. I., Freedman, S. J., Wallig, J., Ybarrolaza, N., Gando, A., Gando, Y., Ikeda, H., Inoue, K., Kishimoto, Y., Koga, M., Mitsui, T., Nakamura, K., Shimizu, I., Shirai, J., Suzuki, A., Takemoto, Y., Tamae, K., Ueshima, K., Watanabe, H., Xu, B. D., Yoshida, H., Yoshida, S., Kozlov, A., Grant, C., Keefer, G., Piepke, A., Bloxham, T., Fujikawa, B. K., Han, K., Ichimura, K., Murayama, H., O׳Donnell, T., Steiner, H. M., Winslow, L. A., Dwyer, D. A., McKeown, R. D., Zhang, C., Berger, B. E., Lane, C. E., Maricic, J., Miletic, T., Batygov, M., Learned, J. G., Matsuno, S., Sakai, M., Horton-Smith, G. A., Downum, K. E., Gratta, G., Efremenko, Y., Perevozchikov, O., Karwowski, H. J., Markoff, D. M., Tornow, W., Heeger, K. M., Detwiler, J. A., Enomoto, S., Decowski, M. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Detector alignment and calibration methods (lasers, Sources, Particle-beams); ENGINEERING; Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics; NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; Scintillators, Scintillation and light emission processes (solid, Gas and liquid scintillators)
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576

We describe a compact, ultra-clean device used to deploy radioactive sources along the vertical axis of the KamLAND liquid-scintillator neutrino detector for purposes of calibration. The device worked by paying out and reeling in precise lengths of a hanging, small-gauge wire rope (cable); an assortment of interchangeable radioactive sources could be attached to a weight at the end of the cable. All components exposed to the radiopure liquid scintillator were made of chemically compatible UHV-cleaned materials, primarily stainless steel, in order to avoid contaminating or degrading the scintillator. To prevent radon intrusion, the apparatus was enclosed in a hermetically sealed housing inside a glove box, and both volumes were regularly flushed with purified nitrogen gas. Finally, an infrared camera attached to the side of the housing permitted real-time visual monitoring of the cable’s motion, and the system was controlled via a graphical user interface.