Determination of ultra-trace level krypton concentration in high-purity nitrogen using a static vacuum mass spectrometer

Abstract

Uncovering the nature of dark matter microscopic particles is one of the most important disciplinary goals of physics and astronomy in the 21st century, and how to reduce background signals and environmental interference in dark matter experiments is one of the key factors to improve the sensitivity of the detector and to take the lead in obtaining significant detection results. High-purity nitrogen, as a crucial gas for detector purging, scintillator purification and pipe cleaning, among other things, contains the radioactive gases ⁸⁵Kr and ⁸¹Kr in natural Kr, which emit β-rays that can interfere with the detection of dark matter signals. Therefore, it is necessary to measure the concentration of ultra-trace level Kr in high-purity nitrogen, and screen high-purity nitrogen complying with the standard for use in dark matter experiments. This study develops a novel analytical method to determine ultra-trace level Kr in high-purity nitrogen using a static noble gas mass spectrometer coupled with a newly designed sample processing system. A large amount of reactive gases from the original sample are removed by the large-volume high-temperature purification device, and then we explore a simple and iterative trapping method for Ar–Kr separation. This method improves the noble gas separation factor with the promise of ensuring recovery. The separated Kr is fed into a static vacuum mass spectrometer. The detection limit of this method for natural Kr is as low as 10⁻¹⁴ L L⁻¹ with an uncertainty of about 8%.