Preparation and measurement of an 37Ar source for liquid xenon detector calibration

Xu Nan Guo; Chang Cai; Fei Gao; Yang Lei; Kai Hang Li; Chun Lei Su; Ze Peng Wu; Xiang Xiao; Ling Feng Xie; Yi Fei Zhao; Xiao Peng Zhou

doi:10.1007/s41365-025-01818-w

Preparation and measurement of an 37Ar source for liquid xenon detector calibration

Xu Nan Guo
, Chang Cai
, Fei Gao
, Yang Lei
, Kai Hang Li
, Chun Lei Su
, Ze Peng Wu
, Xiang Xiao
, Ling Feng Xie^*
, Yi Fei Zhao
, Xiao Peng Zhou^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We present the preparation and measurement of the radioactive isotope 37Ar, which was produced using thermal neutrons from a reactor, as a calibration source for liquid xenon time projection chambers. 37Ar is a low-energy calibration source with a half-life of 35.01 days, making it suitable for calibration in the low-energy region of liquid xenon dark-matter experiments. Radioactive isotope 37Ar was produced by irradiating 36Ar with thermal neutrons. It was subsequently measured in a gaseous xenon time projection chamber (GXe TPC) to validate its radioactivity. Our results demonstrate that 37Ar is an effective and viable calibration source that offers precise calibration capabilities in the low-energy domain of xenon-based detectors.

Original language	English
Article number	14
Journal	Nuclear Science and Techniques
Volume	37
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-025-01818-w
State	Published - Jan 2026

Keywords

37Ar
Calibration source
Gaseous xenon detector
Low-energy

Access to Document

10.1007/s41365-025-01818-w

Cite this

@article{7e7a92f8631448f2b46cc7075b504b3c,

title = "Preparation and measurement of an 37Ar source for liquid xenon detector calibration",

abstract = "We present the preparation and measurement of the radioactive isotope 37Ar, which was produced using thermal neutrons from a reactor, as a calibration source for liquid xenon time projection chambers. 37Ar is a low-energy calibration source with a half-life of 35.01 days, making it suitable for calibration in the low-energy region of liquid xenon dark-matter experiments. Radioactive isotope 37Ar was produced by irradiating 36Ar with thermal neutrons. It was subsequently measured in a gaseous xenon time projection chamber (GXe TPC) to validate its radioactivity. Our results demonstrate that 37Ar is an effective and viable calibration source that offers precise calibration capabilities in the low-energy domain of xenon-based detectors.",

keywords = "37Ar, Calibration source, Gaseous xenon detector, Low-energy",

author = "Guo, \{Xu Nan\} and Chang Cai and Fei Gao and Yang Lei and Li, \{Kai Hang\} and Su, \{Chun Lei\} and Wu, \{Ze Peng\} and Xiang Xiao and Xie, \{Ling Feng\} and Zhao, \{Yi Fei\} and Zhou, \{Xiao Peng\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to China Science Publishing \& Media Ltd. (Science Press), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Nuclear Society 2025.",

year = "2026",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1007/s41365-025-01818-w",

language = "英语",

volume = "37",

journal = "Nuclear Science and Techniques",

issn = "1001-8042",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Preparation and measurement of an 37Ar source for liquid xenon detector calibration

AU - Guo, Xu Nan

AU - Cai, Chang

AU - Gao, Fei

AU - Lei, Yang

AU - Li, Kai Hang

AU - Su, Chun Lei

AU - Wu, Ze Peng

AU - Xiao, Xiang

AU - Xie, Ling Feng

AU - Zhao, Yi Fei

AU - Zhou, Xiao Peng

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to China Science Publishing & Media Ltd. (Science Press), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Nuclear Society 2025.

PY - 2026/1

Y1 - 2026/1

N2 - We present the preparation and measurement of the radioactive isotope 37Ar, which was produced using thermal neutrons from a reactor, as a calibration source for liquid xenon time projection chambers. 37Ar is a low-energy calibration source with a half-life of 35.01 days, making it suitable for calibration in the low-energy region of liquid xenon dark-matter experiments. Radioactive isotope 37Ar was produced by irradiating 36Ar with thermal neutrons. It was subsequently measured in a gaseous xenon time projection chamber (GXe TPC) to validate its radioactivity. Our results demonstrate that 37Ar is an effective and viable calibration source that offers precise calibration capabilities in the low-energy domain of xenon-based detectors.

AB - We present the preparation and measurement of the radioactive isotope 37Ar, which was produced using thermal neutrons from a reactor, as a calibration source for liquid xenon time projection chambers. 37Ar is a low-energy calibration source with a half-life of 35.01 days, making it suitable for calibration in the low-energy region of liquid xenon dark-matter experiments. Radioactive isotope 37Ar was produced by irradiating 36Ar with thermal neutrons. It was subsequently measured in a gaseous xenon time projection chamber (GXe TPC) to validate its radioactivity. Our results demonstrate that 37Ar is an effective and viable calibration source that offers precise calibration capabilities in the low-energy domain of xenon-based detectors.

KW - 37Ar

KW - Calibration source

KW - Gaseous xenon detector

KW - Low-energy

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105024066432

U2 - 10.1007/s41365-025-01818-w

DO - 10.1007/s41365-025-01818-w

M3 - 文章

AN - SCOPUS:105024066432

SN - 1001-8042

VL - 37

JO - Nuclear Science and Techniques

JF - Nuclear Science and Techniques

IS - 1

M1 - 14

ER -

Preparation and measurement of an 37Ar source for liquid xenon detector calibration

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this