Separating 39Ar from 40Ar by cryogenic distillation with Aria for dark-matter searches

DarkSide-20k Collaboration

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Aria is a plant hosting a 350m cryogenic isotopic distillation column, the tallest ever built, which is being installed in a mine shaft at Carbosulcis S.p.A., Nuraxi-Figus (SU), Italy. Aria is one of the pillars of the argon dark-matter search experimental program, lead by the Global Argon Dark Matter Collaboration. It was designed to reduce the isotopic abundance of 39Ar in argon extracted from underground sources, called Underground Argon (UAr), which is used for dark-matter searches. Indeed, 39Ar is a β-emitter of cosmogenic origin, whose activity poses background and pile-up concerns in the detectors. In this paper, we discuss the requirements, design, construction, tests, and projected performance of the plant for the isotopic cryogenic distillation of argon. We also present the successful results of the isotopic cryogenic distillation of nitrogen with a prototype plant.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number359
JournalEuropean Physical Journal C
Volume81
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Engineering (miscellaneous)
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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