Radioactive Krypton Background Evaluation Using Atom Counting

The beta-decay of ${}^{85}\mathrm{K}\mathrm{r}$ is a significant radioactive background for experiments that use liquified noble gases to search for dark matter and measure the low-energy solar neutrino flux. While there are several proposed methods for reducing Kr levels in these experiments, an independent technique is needed for measuring very low Kr levels. By selectively exciting Kr atoms to a metastable state, capturing them in a magneto-optical trap (MOT), and detecting fluorescence from the trapped atoms, individual Kr atoms can be counted with a high signal-to-noise ratio. This approach could be used to ascertain Kr impurity levels in other noble gases, with an estimated sensitivity of $3\times {10}^{-14}$.