29 May 2018 to 3 June 2018
Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Conference Center
US/Pacific timezone

Demonstration of Single Barium Ion Sensitivity for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Using Single Molecule Fluorescent Imaging

31 May 2018, 14:20
20m
East Foyer | Larkspur/Mesquite Rooms (Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Conference Center)

East Foyer | Larkspur/Mesquite Rooms

Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Conference Center

44600 Indian Wells Lane, Indian Wells, CA 92210, USA

Speakers

Prof. David Nygren (University of Texas at Arlington)Dr David Nygren (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Description

A new method to tag the barium daughter in the double beta decay of $^{136}$Xe is described, based on adaptation of the single molecule fluorescent imaging (SMFI) technique. Individual barium dications chelated on a transparent plate are detected at a significance of 12.9 $\sigma$, with a spatial resolution of 2 nm rms. Observation of a single-step photo-bleach transition confirms the interpretation of single ion sensitivity. This result is the first step toward an essentially background-free technique in the search for neutrino-less double beta decay in $^{136}$Xe, based on robust event discrimination by SMFI in a high-pressure xenon gas TPC.
E-mail [email protected]
Collaboration name NEXT Collaboration

Primary authors

Mr Austin McDonald (University of Texas at Arlington) Prof. Ben Jones (University of Texas at Arlington) Prof. David Nygren (University of Texas at Arlington)

Presentation materials

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