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Abstract:
In the search for dark matter, detectors have been built over the last years which
use liquid xenon as a detection medium. For them, 222Rn and its daughter nuclides
pose a dangerous background source, as they can cause signals which look like those
expected from dark matter particles. Consequently, it is important to understand,
how 222Rn decay chain signals can be identified. As a result, this thesis is dedicated
to looking for such signals in two detectors. One of them is the XENON100 detector,
which belongs to the leading dark matter direct detection experiments. 222Rn
decay chain event rates are used here for quantifying the effectiveness of using
distillation techniques to separate radon from xenon. The other detector is called
HeidelbergXenon (HeXe), and has been recently built at the Max-Planck-Institut
für Kernphysik in order to study the decays of 222Rn and its daughter nuclides in
liquid xenon. To achieve this task, a data processor is developed and tested over
the course of this thesis. Also, the electronics equipment as well as the photosensors
used for measuring with HeXe are characterized. Finally, HeXe data, taken with
radon-enriched xenon, is analyzed to look for 222Rn decay chain events.
