• Rapid Communication

Direct measurement of the bubble-nucleation energy threshold in a CF3I bubble chamber

E. Behnke, T. Benjamin, S. J. Brice, D. Broemmelsiek, J. I. Collar, P. S. Cooper, M. Crisler, C. E. Dahl, D. Fustin, J. Hall, C. Harnish, I. Levine, W. H. Lippincott, T. Moan, T. Nania, R. Neilson, E. Ramberg, A. E. Robinson, M. Ruschman, A. Sonnenschein, E. Vázquez-Jáuregui, R. A. Rivera, and L. Uplegger (COUPP Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. D 88, 021101(R) – Published 30 July 2013

Abstract

We have directly measured the energy threshold and efficiency for bubble nucleation from iodine recoils in a CF3I bubble chamber in the energy range of interest for a dark matter search. These interactions cannot be probed by standard neutron calibration methods, so we develop a new technique by observing the elastic scattering of 12GeV/c negative pions. The pions are tracked with a silicon pixel telescope and the reconstructed scattering angle provides a measure of the nuclear recoil kinetic energy. The bubble chamber was operated with a nominal threshold of (13.6±0.6)keV. Interpretation of the results depends on the response to fluorine and carbon recoils, but in general we find agreement with the predictions of the classical bubble-nucleation theory. This measurement confirms the applicability of CF3I as a target for spin-independent dark matter interactions and represents a novel technique for calibration of superheated fluid detectors.

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  • Received 19 April 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.88.021101

© 2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

E. Behnke1, T. Benjamin1, S. J. Brice2, D. Broemmelsiek2, J. I. Collar3, P. S. Cooper2, M. Crisler2, C. E. Dahl4,2, D. Fustin3, J. Hall5, C. Harnish1, I. Levine1, W. H. Lippincott2,*, T. Moan1, T. Nania1, R. Neilson3,†, E. Ramberg2, A. E. Robinson3, M. Ruschman2, A. Sonnenschein2, E. Vázquez-Jáuregui6, R. A. Rivera2, and L. Uplegger2 (COUPP Collaboration)

  • 1Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, Indiana 46634, USA
  • 2Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA
  • 3Enrico Fermi Institute, KICP and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  • 4Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA
  • 5Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
  • 6SNOLAB, Lively, Ontario, Canada P3Y 1N2

  • *hugh@fnal.gov
  • rneilson@uchicago.edu

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Issue

Vol. 88, Iss. 2 — 15 July 2013

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