Fast timing measurements of gamma-ray events in liquid xenon

We have used newly developed metal-channel photomultipliers (PMTs) from Hamamatsu Photonics to detect the fast scintillation light from liquid xenon. The PMTs are designed to operate within the liquid and to efficiently detect the 175 nm Xe light. Their small transit time spread makes them ideal for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on nuclear science 2005-10, Vol.52 (5), p.1800-1804
Main Authors: Giboni, K.-L., Aprile, E., Majewski, P., Ni, K., Yamashita, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Detectors
Electric variables measurement
Extraterrestrial measurements
Gamma ray detection
Ionization chambers
Liquid xenon (LXe)
Liquids
photomultiplier tube (PMT)
Photomultipliers
Photonics
Scintillation
Solid scintillation detectors
Spreads
Testing
Time measurements
Timing
timing measurement
Transit time
Xenon
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Summary:We have used newly developed metal-channel photomultipliers (PMTs) from Hamamatsu Photonics to detect the fast scintillation light from liquid xenon. The PMTs are designed to operate within the liquid and to efficiently detect the 175 nm Xe light. Their small transit time spread makes them ideal for fast timing applications. To evaluate the timing characteristics of a liquid xenon detector, we tested a gridded ionization chamber equipped with two such PMTs. Both PMTs observe the same interaction and share the detected scintillation light about equally. At zero field the measured timing resolution is 565 ps FWHM for 122 keV from /sup 57/Co and 227 ps FWHM for 662 keV from /sup 137/Cs. For electric fields up to 4 kV/cm drift field the timing resolution remained constant. This timing resolution opens the possibility of a time-of-flight (ToF) measurement between two LXe detectors separated by a distance of 10-20 cm, which is of great interest for background reduction in a Compton telescope for /spl gamma/-ray astrophysics.
ISSN:0018-9499
1558-1578
DOI:10.1109/TNS.2005.856763