Radon daughter plate-out measurements at SNOLAB for polyethylene and copper

Polyethylene and copper samples were exposed to the underground air at SNOLAB for approximately three months while several environmental factors were monitored. Predictions of the radon-daughter plate-out rate are compared to the resulting surface activities, obtained from high-sensitivity measureme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2017-11, Vol.880
Main Authors: Stein, Matthew, Bauer, Dan, Bunker, Ray, Calkins, Rob, Cooley, Jodi, Loer, Ben, Scorza, Silvia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Backgrounds
Dark matter
INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Material assay
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Plate-out
Radon
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Summary:Polyethylene and copper samples were exposed to the underground air at SNOLAB for approximately three months while several environmental factors were monitored. Predictions of the radon-daughter plate-out rate are compared to the resulting surface activities, obtained from high-sensitivity measurements of alpha emissivity using the XIA UltraLo-1800 spectrometer at SMU. From these measurements, we determine an average $^{210}$Pb plate-out rate of 249 and 423~atoms/day/cm$^{2}$ for polyethylene and copper, respectively, when exposed to radon activity of 135 Bq/m$^{3}$ at SNOLAB. A time-dependent model of alpha activity is discussed for these materials placed in similar environmental conditions.
ISSN:0168-9002
1872-9576