Speaker
Description
Dual-phase xenon time projection chambers (TPCs) are optimized for keV-scale signals and lead the search for WIMP dark matter interactions. Natural xenon contains ~8.9% 136Xe, which is a neutrinoless double beta decay (0𝜈𝛽𝛽) candidate, making xenon TPCs also sensitive to this rare process. However, 0𝜈𝛽𝛽 of 136Xe would produce signals at the MeV range, and current TPC signal readout strategies do not provide optimal position reconstruction for such high-energy interactions. In this talk, I will present an optical imager design optimized for VUV sensitivity which can discriminate 0𝜈𝛽𝛽 signals from the most troublesome background, multiply-scattering gamma-rays near the 136Xe 0𝜈𝛽𝛽 Q-value. The imager can be integrated into current dual-phase xenon TPC designs without significant modification, enabling a single detector to simultaneously search for low-energy dark-matter interactions and high-energy 0𝜈𝛽𝛽 signals.