Neutron beam tests of CsI(Na) and CaF2(Eu) crystals for dark matter direct search

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2016.02.037
• Publication Date: 2016-02-20T15:21:28Z
• Authors: C. Guo; X.H. Ma; Z.M. Wang; J. Bao; C.J. Dai; M.Y. Guan; J.C. Liu; Z.H. Li; J. Ren; X.C. Ruan; C.G. Yang; Z.Y. Yu; W.L. Zhong; C. Huerta
• Keywords: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex); 03 medical and health sciences; Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; 0302 clinical medicine; FOS: Physical sciences; Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det); Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics; Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM); High Energy Physics - Experiment

13 pages, 12 figures<br/>In recent decades, inorganic crystals have been widely used in dark matter direct search experiments. To contribute to the understanding of the capabilities of $CsI(Na)$ and $CaF_{2}(Eu)$ crystals, a mono-energetic neutron beam is utilized to study the properties of nuclear recoils, which are expected to be similar to signals of dark matter direct detection. The quenching factor of nuclear recoils in $CsI(Na)$ and $CaF_{2}(Eu)$, as well as an improved discrimination factor between nuclear recoils and $��$ backgrounds in $CsI(Na)$, are reported.<br/>