Double-beta decay investigation with highly pure enriched $$^{82}$$Se for the LUCIFER experiment
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sapienza Univ. di Roma, Rome (Italy); INFN, Rome (Italy)
- Univ. di Pavia, Pavia (Italy); INFN, Pavia (Italy)
- Sapienza Univ. di Roma, Rome (Italy); Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States)
- Univ. di Milano-Bicocca, Milan (Italy); INFN, Milan (Italy)
- INFN, Rome (Italy)
- INFN, Genoa (Italy); Univ. di Genova, Genoa (Italy)
- Centre de Spectrometrie de Masse, Orsay (France)
- INFN, Milan (Italy)
- INFN, Assergi (L'Aquila) (Italy)
- Gran Sasso Science Institute, L'Aquila (Italy)
- CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
The LUCIFER project aims at deploying the first array of enriched scintillating bolometers for the investigation of neutrinoless double-beta decay of 82Se. The matrix which embeds the source is an array of ZnSe crystals, where enriched 82Se is used as decay isotope. The radiopurity of the initial components employed for manufacturing crystals, that can be operated as bolometers, is crucial for achieving a null background level in the region of interest for double-beta decay investigations. In this work, we evaluated the radioactive content in 2.5 kg of 96.3 % enriched 82Se metal, measured with a high-purity germanium detector at the Gran Sasso deep underground laboratory. The limits on internal contaminations of primordial decay chain elements of 232Th, 238U and 235U are respectively: <61, <110 and <74 μBq/kg at 90 % C.L. The extremely low-background conditions in which the measurement was carried out and the high radiopurity of the 82Se allowed us to establish the most stringent lower limits on the half-lives of the double-beta decay of 82Se to 0+1, 2+2 and 2+1 excited states of 82Kr of 3.4•1022, 1.3•1022 and 1.0•1022 y, respectively, with a 90 % C.L.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1405288
- Journal Information:
- European Physical Journal. C, Particles and Fields, Vol. 75, Issue 12; ISSN 1434-6044
- Publisher:
- SpringerCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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