7–11 Dec 2026
The University of Sydney
Australia/Sydney timezone
AIP Congress 2026

Unlocking fundamental physics discoveries through radon control

Not scheduled
20m
Belinda Hutchinson Building (The University of Sydney )

Belinda Hutchinson Building

The University of Sydney

Abercrombie St & Codrington St NSW 2008
Contributed Oral AIP | Nuclear and Particle Physics (NUPP)

Speaker

Dr Robert Renz Marcelo Gregorio (Australian National University)

Description

Radon remains one of the dominant backgrounds limiting the sensitivity of rare-event physics experiments searching for dark matter, neutrinoless double beta decay, and other exotic phenomena. The radioactive decay of radon progeny can produce signals that mimic the interactions of interest, making the detection and control of radon crucial for achieving the sensitivity required by next-generation experiments.

This presentation will outline recent results on radon assay and suppression using the Detecting Radon Emanating and Mitigating Radon (DREAMR) Facility at the Australian National University. Radon suppression results using standard and novel filtration materials, as well as surface electroplating will be presented, as well as preliminary radon emanation assay measurements from DREAMR. Given the high radon background at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL), activities to understand and mitigate this radon background at SUPL will also be reported. Finally, initial activities from a new international benchmarking and intercomparison program to allow standardised comparisons between various radon detection, assay and mitigation technologies will be discussed. This coordinated technical program brings together radon experts from major low-background experiments and underground laboratories to support the sensitivity goals of future experiments.

I am the presenting author Yes

Author

Dr Robert Renz Marcelo Gregorio (Australian National University)

Co-authors

Alasdair Mclean (Adelaide University) Prof. Gregory Lane (Australian National University) Kai Davies (Student) Laurent Bechteler-Weickhardt (Australian National University) Linda Truong (Australian National University) Dr Lindsey Bignell (Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications, The Australian National University) Shijie Yuan (Australian National University) Victoria Bashu (The Australian National University)

Presentation materials

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