A cryogenic distillation column for the XENON1T experiment

The XENON collaboration aims for the direct detection of cold dark matter in form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). A dual phase time projection chamber filled with liquid xenon is used to detect the WIMP-nucleon interaction. For the next generation experiment XENON1T with an active target mass of 1 ton of xenon, a new distillation column to remove krypton out of xenon to a concentration of < 5 × 10⁻¹³ (0.5 ppt) natural krypton in xenon is designed and tested at the Institut für Kernphysik, Universitat Munster. The experimental setup together with two diagnostic tools is presented, as well as one stability test of a 11 hour distillation run at the designed flowrate of 3 kg per hour