Far UV coatings for liquid-Ar time projection chambers

Abstract

Liquid Ar (LAr) and liquid Xe (LXe) time projection chambers (TPCs) are used for many applications in neutrino physics and direct dark matter searches. The performance of these detectors, particularly dual-phase ones, depends very strongly on the efficiency for detecting the far ultraviolet (FUV) scintillation light. Such detection is particularly challenging for LAr, in which the strongest scintillation feature is observed at a wavelength of 127 nm (175 nm for LXe). The current mainstream approach is covering the optical surfaces with a wavelength shifter, which absorbs de FUV light and emits at wavelengths that overlap with the optical band, where commercial devices have higher detection efficiency. This work presents coatings designed to enhance the optical properties of the detector materials and to be an alternative to the current technique. In particular, two possible coatings are proposed: narrowband and broadband FUV reflective coatings. The narrowband coatings are tuned at the FUV scintillation light. They provide a large reflectance at the design angle; additionally, these coatings are naturally transparent at longer wavelengths, which might be useful to selectively detect the wavelength of interest. Their performance is evaluated taking into account the refractive index of LAr and as a function of the angle of incidence. The same calculations are performed for an aluminium-based broadband mirror. Finally, the effect on reflectance of submerging both sorts of mirrors at liquid nitrogen temperature is presented.