First demonstration of a sub-keV electron recoil energy threshold in a liquid argon ionization chamber

TL;DR

This paper reports the first successful demonstration of a sub-keV electron recoil energy threshold in a liquid argon detector, advancing dark matter detection capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a novel liquid argon detector achieving sub-keV sensitivity, with detailed calibration methods using Ar-37 and Fe-55 sources.

Findings

Achieved detection of electron recoils at 0.27 keV and 2.82 keV

Calibrated detector using Ar-37 and Fe-55 sources

Analyzed ionization yield and electron recombination at low energies

Abstract

We describe the first demonstration of a sub-keV electron recoil energy threshold in a dual-phase liquid argon time projection chamber. This is an important step in an effort to develop a detector capable of identifying the ionization signal resulting from nuclear recoils with energies of order a few keV and below. We obtained this result by observing the peaks in the energy spectrum at 2.82 keV and 0.27 keV, following the K- and L-shell electron capture decay of Ar-37, respectively. The Ar-37 source preparation is described in detail, since it enables calibration that may also prove useful in dark matter direct detection experiments. An internally placed Fe-55 x-ray source simultaneously provided another calibration point at 5.9 keV. We discuss the ionization yield and electron recombination in liquid argon at those three calibration energies.