Speaker
Description
Luminescence is the emission of photons from a medium via the deexitation of atomic orbitals following an external excitation. It can be characterized using the parameters: light yield, emission spectrum, and decay time.
It has been proposed that luminescence of water and ice can be used as a new detection channel by particle detectors that use water or ice as their target medium. These detectors generally use directly or indirectly produced Cherenkov light as a detection channel, which restricts the detection of particles to velocities above 0.5\,c. With luminescence light, on the other hand, the detection of highly ionizing particles is possible even below the velocity threshold for Cherenkov light production.
In order to use luminescence light as a particle detection channel, the characteristics need to be known for the properties given in these detectors. As a first step the characteristics are determined for ultra purified water and ice. Setups for measurements of light yield and the emission spectrum have been developed and calibrated. Results have been obtained for the light yield and its temperature dependence. The present status of the investigation will be presented.
