Photoluminescence response of acrylic (PMMA) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to ultraviolet light: Limits on low-intensity photoluminescence in support materials of rare-event search experiments

Abstract

Some publications indicate that poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) exhibit low levels of photoluminesence (fluorescence and/or phosphorescence) when irradiated with photons in the ultraviolet (UV) to visible range. PMMA (also known as acrylic) and PTFE are commonly used to contain the liquid argon (LAr) or xenon (LXe) target material in rare-event search experiments. LAr and LXe scintillate in the vacuum UV region, and the PMMA and PTFE can be directly illuminated by these photons. Photoluminescence from support materials could cause unexpected signals in these detectors. We investigate photoluminesence in the 400 nm to 550 nm region in response to excitation with UV light between 130 and 250 nm at levels relevant to rare-event search experiments. Measurements are done at room temperature and the signal intensity is time-integrated over several minutes. We tested PMMA and PTFE samples from the batches used in the DEAP-3600 and LUX experiments and observed no photoluminescence signal. We put limits on the efficiency of the plastics to shift UV photons to a wavelengths region of 400 nm–550 nm at 0.05%–0.35% relative to the wavelength shifting efficiency of tetraphenyl-butadiene.