A novel $^{83\mathrm{m}}$Kr tracer method for characterizing xenon gas and cryogenic distillation systems

The radioactive isomer 83mKr, has many properties that make it very useful for various applications. Its low energy decay products, like conversion, shake-off and Auger electrons as well as X- and γ-rays are used for calibration purposes in neutrino mass experiments and direct dark matter detection experiments. Thanks to the short half-life of 1.83 h and the decay to the ground state 83Kr, one does not risk contamination of any low-background experiment with long-lived radionuclides. In this paper, we present a new approach, using 83mKr as a radioactive tracer in noble gases. A method of doping 83mKr, into xenon gas and its detection, using special custom-made detectors, based on a photomultiplier tube, is described. Two applications of this method are presented: firstly, it can be used to characterize the particle flow inside of gas routing systems and determine the circulation speed of gas particles inside of a gas purification system for xenon. Secondly, it is used for rapid estimating of the separation performance of a distillation system.