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Welcome to the VULCAN wiki. VULCAN stands for Vacuum Ultraviolet Light Characterisation At Nikhef. The VULCAN project started in 2021 with the design of the modular vacuum setup by Jeroen van der Borgh and Casimir van der Post. Casimir commissioned the setup early 2022. In the autumn of 2022 calibrations were started with a temporary DAQ system. Due to the renovation at Nikhef, VULCAN will need to leave the lab for the first few months of 2023. During this time, a new DAQ system will be prepared, and calibration measurements on the SiPMs will be done.

With the VULCAN experimental setup we would like to learn more about the optical properties of materials for scintillation based time projection chambers (TPC). We want to measure fluorescence, reflectivity and transmittivity of PTFE from the XENON experiment and wavelength shifting foils from DUNE under UV light in vacuum. We would like to also cool our samples to better simulate the environment inside a TPC. For the wavelength shifting material, we would like to see if there is any degradation with prolonged exposure to UV light or radioactivity.

Below you will find details about the experiment such as manuals and measurement data, as well as presentations about this setup. The working of the experiment as well as the reasoning behind some of the design choices are explained on this detailed setup description page.

Planning

Components of the experiment

We have a setup with many different components. Each of the components has its own page describing what we use exactly and why.

McPherson Monochromator and attachments

Hamamatsu deuterium lamp + lamp log

Pfeiffer vacuum pump

Ideal vacuum vacuum chamber

SiPMs

Sensors

Sensor connections

DAQ

CAD drawing software

ITEM table

Cooling system

Sample holder

Readout box

VUV Experiment To Do List

Here we keep lists of things that need to be done before we can start the experimental measurements and data analysis.

Setup and Components

Analysis

Source code overview

Here we keep an overview of all the code that we have for VULCAN. Generally speaking, we have three different repositories. One is for the slow control code, which takes care of reading out the pressure and temperature and moving the grating in the monochromator. You can find the code on Gitlab. For the DAQ we will use redax. Currently however, we have a temporary readout system with CAEN standalone units. The code for these units is written by Auke-Pieter and can be found on Github. Finally, we have analysis code, which can be found on Gitlab.

There is a slow control computer and a data acquisition (DAQ) computer, we will replace these with one new computer. The slow control computer has Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, which will be updated until after 2030. An X2go server has been installed on the desktop which allows remote connection (at the moment this is not yet available). X2go is not compatible (yet) with newer versions of Ubuntu, so do NOT upgrade to a newer version. The user name is superuser. A manual to connect remotely can be found here.

File:X2go server documentation

The new DAQ and slow control computer are being installed.

We are using python for the source code running on the Raspberry Pi for both UI and data acquisition (apart from the Arduino sketch written in C++). A description of the slow control code can be found at VUV code overview.

Data

We have a /project/vuvsetup/ space on stoomboot. In the data folder, you can find all the data we took so far. Each dataset is in a folder with the date and a description of the data. The filenames usually encode the specifics of the conducted experiment. So, for example: 24112022_lamp_spectrum/155nm_runVUV1821_1.raw contains the data taken on November 24 2022 in order to measure the lamp spectrum at the wavelength of 155 nm and with SiPM 1821. Another example: 17052023_intensity_distance/170523_run_14.1_1_.raw contains data taken on May 17 2023 to measure the intensity depending on the distance. Here the distance is 14.1 cm and the exit slit size is 1 mm (entrance slit was 20 um). I hope everyone documents their experiments!

Projects

MSc research project (started September 2024): Investigating fluorescence of PTFE samples, wavelength shifters and more in VULCAN by Anna Hurhina.

Measuring the reflectivity and wavelength shifting efficiencies at VUV wavelengths of material samples from the DUNE detector by Corryenne Groen File:Bachelor thesis DS gv0v21rs.pdf Measuring VUV light absorption in air/rest gas (Dagmar Salomons BSc)

Designing the sample chamber for vacuum ultraviolet reflection measurements by Jeroen van der Borgh

• Bachelor Thesis Jeroen van der Borgh

Building a sample chamber for measuring the reflectivity and transparency of detector materials at VUV wavelengths by Casimir van der Post

• Master Thesis Casimir van der Post
• CAD drawings from Casimir: https://surfdrive.surf.nl/files/index.php/s/ijLZ9HZOoWTbWSg

Calculating the required intensities of light by Jasmijn Stevens

Beam alignment and first reflectance measurement

• BSc thesis Tomas van der Lee
• BSc thesis Yannick Wishaupt

First year BSc Lab Project

Measurements, estimates and calculations

General statistics notes on counting experiments

Estimate of condensation rate

Spot size 23-11-2021

Spot size Vikas/Casimir

Dark count measurements

Lamp spectrum measurement by Jasmijn Stevens

Dark count dependence on temperature Lucia

Pictures

Gallery

Parts & Ordering

Company contacts for ordering parts

Component ordering

Literature

Papers that describe other setups

• Schrott, J.,Sakai, M... Measurement of the Angular Distribution of Wavelength-Shifted Light Emitted by TPB. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2108.08239.pdf

(Discussion on alignment procedure) Measurements of angle-resolved reflectivity of PTFE in liquid xenon with IBEX. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-7800-6

Papers

Note for UvA students: You can get access to many journals through our library by using the UvA proxy. The simple way is to add ".proxy.uba.uva.nl" to the domain in the URL. E.g. for a paper at https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6501/ab7f7a/meta, if you go to https://iopscience.iop.org.proxy.uba.uva.nl/article/10.1088/1361-6501/ab7f7a/meta instead, you get free access via the library.

How SiPMs work

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168900218317704

Fluorescence resources

• Fluorescence spectroscopy handbook: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-46312-4 (available free, at least for UvA students)
• Thorlabs note on PTFE fluorescence: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=14217 , also see https://opg.optica.org/ao/abstract.cfm?uri=ao-47-21-3962 and https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0026-1394/46/4/S11
• Ultraviolet Fluorescence Spectra of Fingerprints http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2005/861978/abs/
• Color and fluorescence of polytetrafluoroethylene treated by γ-irradiation near the melting point https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168583X11006616
• J. Haefner, et al (2023). Reflectance and fluorescence characteristics of PTFE coated with TPB at visible, UV, and VUV as a function of thickness. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2211.05024.pdf
• Recent talk on PTFE fluorescence and effect on DM detector https://agenda.infn.it/event/39713/contributions/234172/attachments/123546/181229/Sorensen-IDM-2024.pdf
• Ellingwood, E., Benmansour, H., Hars, Q., Hucker, J., Pereymak, V., Corning, J. M., ... & Stringer, M. (2022). Ultraviolet-induced fluorescence of poly (methyl methacrylate) compared to 1, 1, 4, 4-tetraphenyl-1, 3-butadiene down to 4 K. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1039, 167119. https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.11581
• Fiebrandt, M., & Awakowicz, P. (2020). A simple Peltier cold trap aperture for protection of vacuum UV optics against hydrocarbons and reliable calibration of VUV spectrometers using D2 lamps. Measurement Science and Technology, 31(7), 077002. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6501/ab7f7a/meta

• Kuźniak, M., Broerman, B., Pollmann, T., & Araujo, G. R. (2019). Polyethylene naphthalate film as a wavelength shifter in liquid argon detectors. The European Physical Journal C, 79(4), 1-6. https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.04020
• Zheng, W., Jia, L., & Huang, F. (2020). Vacuum-ultraviolet photon detections. Iscience, 23(6), 101145. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004220303308

Liquid Noble Gas Physics

• Some slides on Argon scintillation. https://microboone-exp.fnal.gov/public/talks/LArTPCWorkshopScintLight_bjpjone_2014.pdf
• Suzuki, M., & Kubota, S. (1979). Mechanism of proportional scintillation in argon, krypton and xenon. Nuclear Instruments and Methods, 164(1), 197–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/0029-554X(79)90453-1
• Hitachi, A., Takahashi, T., Funayama, N., Masuda, K., Kikuchi, J., & Doke, T. (1983). Effect of ionization density on the time dependence of luminescence from liquid argon and xenon. In PHYSICAL REVIEW B (Vol. 27).
• Boulay, M. G., Camillo, V., Canci, N., Choudhary, S., Consiglio, L., Flammini, A., ... & Wang, H. (2021). Direct comparison of PEN and TPB wavelength shifters in a liquid argon detector. The European Physical Journal C, 81(12), 1-7. https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.15506
• Gallacher, D., Leonhardt, A., Benmansour, H., Ellingwood, E., Hars, Q., Kuźniak, M., ... & Stringer, M. (2022). Development and characterization of a slow wavelength shifting coating for background rejection in liquid argon detectors. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1034, 166683. https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.06819
• Leonhardt, A. (2021). Characterization of Wavelength Shifters for Rare-Event Search Experiments with a VUV Spectrofluorometer (Unpublished master thesis, Universität München). Retrieved from http://deap3600.ca/student-thesis/.
• Araujo, G. R., Baudis, L., McFadden, N., Krause, P., Schönert, S., & Wu, V. H. S. (2022). R&D of wavelength-shifting reflectors and characterization of the quantum efficiency of tetraphenyl butadiene and polyethylene naphthalate in liquid argon. The European Physical Journal C, 82(5), 1-18.
• Kuźniak, M., & Szelc, A. M. (2020). Wavelength shifters for applications in liquid argon detectors. Instruments, 5(1), 4.
• Bonesini, M., Cervi, T., Menegolli, A., Prata, M. C., Raselli, G. L., Rossella, M., ... & Torti, M. (2018). Detection of vacuum ultraviolet light by means of SiPM for high energy physics experiments. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 912, 235-237.
• Araujo, G. R., Pollmann, T., & Ulrich, A. (2019). Photoluminescence response of acrylic (PMMA) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to ultraviolet light. The European Physical Journal C, 79(8), 1-8. https://arxiv.org/abs/1905.03044
• Dong, Z., Knoepfel, K., Lin, M., Viren, B., & Yu, H. (2022). Evaluation of Portable Programming Models to Accelerate LArTPC Detector Simulations. arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.02479.
• Abud, A. A., Abi, B., Acciarri, R., Acero, M. A., Adames, M. R., Adamov, G., ... & Buchanan, N. (2022). Scintillation light detection in the 6-m drift-length ProtoDUNE Dual Phase liquid argon TPC. The European Physical Journal C, 82(7), 1-29.
• Chen, H., & Radeka, V. (2022). Cryogenic electronics for noble liquid neutrino detectors. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 167571.
• Carniti, P., Falcone, A., Gotti, C., Pessina, G., & Terranova, F. (2022). A 0.22 nV/ √ Hz, 4.5 mW/channel cryogenic amplifier for large arrays of SiPMs in liquid Argon. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 167602.
• Iwamoto, T., Ban, S., Benmansour, H., dal Maso, G., Francesconi, M., Galli, L., ... & Yoshida, K. (2023). The liquid xenon detector for the MEG II experiment to detect 52.8 MeV γ with large area VUV-sensitive MPPCs. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1046, 167720.

Other references

• http://deap3600.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/MastersThesis_GRAraujo_27_03.pdf

• https://indico.hep.manchester.ac.uk/getFile.py/access?contribId=32&sessionId=9&resId=0&materialId=slides&confId=5456 (slides on TUM set-up)
• https://mcphersoninc.com/pdf/VUVAS%20Spectroscopy_Wavelength%20Dependent%20Losses.pdf
• https://indico.stfc.ac.uk/event/65/attachments/173/258/SiPM_Seminar.pdf (slides on SiPMs)
• https://wiki.nikhef.nl/nikhef/dune/DUNE_optical_properties DUNE optical properties

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