Title: Light yield determination in large sodium iodide detectors applied in the search for dark matter,
Abstract: Application of NaI(Tl) detectors in the search for galactic dark matter
particles through their elastic scattering off the target nuclei is well
motivated because of the long standing DAMA/LIBRA highly significant positive
result on annual modulation, still requiring confirmation. For such a goal, it
is mandatory to reach very low threshold in energy (at or below the keV level),
very low radioactive background (at a few counts/keV/kg/day), and high
detection mass (at or above the 100 kg scale). One of the most relevant
technical issues is the optimization of the crystal intrinsic scintillation
light yield and the efficiency of the light collecting system for large mass
crystals. In the frame of the ANAIS (Annual modulation with NaI Scintillators)
dark matter search project large NaI(Tl) crystals from different providers
coupled to two photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) have been tested at the Canfranc
Underground Laboratory. In this paper we present the estimates of the NaI(Tl)
scintillation light collected using full-absorption peaks at very low energy
from external and internal sources emitting gammas/electrons, and
single-photoelectron events populations selected by using very low energy
pulses tails. Outstanding scintillation light collection at the level of
15~photoelectrons/keV can be reported for the final design and provider chosen
for ANAIS detectors. Taking into account the Quantum Efficiency of the PMT
units used, the intrinsic scintillation light yield in these NaI(Tl) crystals
is above 40~photoelectrons/keV for energy depositions in the range from 3 up to
25~keV. This very high light output of ANAIS crystals allows triggering below
1~keV, which is very important in order to increase the sensitivity in the
direct detection of dark matter.