Diffusion of $^{210}\text{Pb}$ and $^{210}\text{Po}$ in Nylon
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866912910911995904 |
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| author | Adhikari, P. Boulay, M. G. Crampton, R. Perry, M. Sinclair, D. |
| author_facet | Adhikari, P. Boulay, M. G. Crampton, R. Perry, M. Sinclair, D. |
| contents | Radon and its progeny constitute a major source of background in rare-event physics experiments, such as those searching for dark matter, neutrinos, and neutrinoless double beta decay, due to their origin as unavoidable decay products of natural uranium. In particular, $^{222}$Rn and its long-lived daughter $^{210}$Pb can diffuse from detector material surfaces, resulting in sustained background contributions. To investigate this process, a system was developed using a controlled radon source, a vacuum chamber with a high electric field, and a thin Nylon-6 film to enable deposition of radon progeny onto the film surface. Nylon-6 was selected for the initial measurement given its history in low-background experiments. We intend to systematically study diffusion in various polymers in the future. Our setup allowed for controlled study of the diffusion behavior of $^{210}$Pb and its daughter $^{210}$Po under varying humidity conditions. Our results show that both $^{210}$Pb and $^{210}$Po diffuse significantly in nylon under high relative humidity, which can potentially lead to internal contamination and increased background in low-background detectors. The diffusivity of $^{210}$Pb was found to be lower than 1.14 $\times$ 10$^{-15}$ cm$^2$/s at 40$\%$ relative humidity (RH), and to be (4.03 $\pm$ 1.01) $\times$ 10$^{-13}$ cm$^2$/s at 95$\%$ RH. The diffusivity of $^{210}$Po at 95$\%$ RH was measured to be (3.94 $\pm$ 0.98) $\times$ 10$^{-13}$ cm$^2$/s. These findings underscore the importance of controlling environmental humidity and material exposure to radon in the design of ultra-low background experiments. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_11464 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Diffusion of $^{210}\text{Pb}$ and $^{210}\text{Po}$ in Nylon Adhikari, P. Boulay, M. G. Crampton, R. Perry, M. Sinclair, D. High Energy Physics - Experiment Radon and its progeny constitute a major source of background in rare-event physics experiments, such as those searching for dark matter, neutrinos, and neutrinoless double beta decay, due to their origin as unavoidable decay products of natural uranium. In particular, $^{222}$Rn and its long-lived daughter $^{210}$Pb can diffuse from detector material surfaces, resulting in sustained background contributions. To investigate this process, a system was developed using a controlled radon source, a vacuum chamber with a high electric field, and a thin Nylon-6 film to enable deposition of radon progeny onto the film surface. Nylon-6 was selected for the initial measurement given its history in low-background experiments. We intend to systematically study diffusion in various polymers in the future. Our setup allowed for controlled study of the diffusion behavior of $^{210}$Pb and its daughter $^{210}$Po under varying humidity conditions. Our results show that both $^{210}$Pb and $^{210}$Po diffuse significantly in nylon under high relative humidity, which can potentially lead to internal contamination and increased background in low-background detectors. The diffusivity of $^{210}$Pb was found to be lower than 1.14 $\times$ 10$^{-15}$ cm$^2$/s at 40$\%$ relative humidity (RH), and to be (4.03 $\pm$ 1.01) $\times$ 10$^{-13}$ cm$^2$/s at 95$\%$ RH. The diffusivity of $^{210}$Po at 95$\%$ RH was measured to be (3.94 $\pm$ 0.98) $\times$ 10$^{-13}$ cm$^2$/s. These findings underscore the importance of controlling environmental humidity and material exposure to radon in the design of ultra-low background experiments. |
| title | Diffusion of $^{210}\text{Pb}$ and $^{210}\text{Po}$ in Nylon |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Experiment |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.11464 |