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Title: The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program

Abstract

The Majorana collaboration is constructing the Majorana Demonstrator at the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the Homestake gold mine, in Lead, SD. The apparatus will use Ge detectors, enriched in isotope 76Ge, to demonstrate the feasibility of a large-scale Ge detector experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The long half-life of this postulated process requires that the apparatus be extremely low in radioactive isotopes whose decays may produce backgrounds to the search. The radioassay program conducted by the collaboration to ensure that the materials comprising the apparatus are sufficiently pure is described. The resulting measurements from gamma-ray counting, neutron activation and mass spectroscopy of the radioactive-isotope contamination for the materials studied for use in the detector are reported. We interpret these numbers in the context of the expected background for the experiment.

Authors:
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Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); National Science Foundation (NSF); Russian Foundation for Basic Research
Contributing Org.:
Majorana collaboration
OSTI Identifier:
1338740
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1326701; OSTI ID: 1379571; OSTI ID: 1489585
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-16-20188
Journal ID: ISSN 0168-9002
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396; AC02-05CH11231; FG02-97ER41041; FG02-97ER41033; FG02-97ER41042; SC0012612; FG02-10ER41715, SC0010254; FG02–97ER41020; AC05–00OR22725; PHY-0919270; PHY-1003940; 0855314; PHY-1202950; MRI 0923142; 1003399; 15-02-02919; AC02–05CH11231; AC52–06NA25396; FG02–97ER41041; FG02–97ER41033; FG02–97ER41042; FG02–10ER41715; SC0010254; AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 828; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; Atomic and Nuclear Physics; Radiopurity; Trace analysis; Neutron activation analysis; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Germanium counting; Low background; Double beta decay; Majorana

Citation Formats

Abgrall, N., Arnquist, I. J., Avignone, F. T., Back, H. O., Barabash, A. S., Bertrand, F. E., Boswell, Melissa, Bradley, A. W., Brudanin, V., Busch, M., Buuck, M., Byram, D., Caldwell, A. S., Chan, Y. -D., Christofferson, C. D., Chu, Pinghan, Cuesta, C., Detwiler, J. A., Dunmore, J. A., Efremenko, Yu., Ejiri, H., Elliott, S. R., Finnerty, P., Galindo-Uribarri, A., Gehman, V. M., Gilliss, T., Giovanetti, G. K., Goett, John Jerome, Green, M. P., Gruszko, J., Guinn, I. S., Guiseppe, V. E., Henning, R., Hoppe, E. W., Howard, S., Howe, M. A., Jasinski, B. R., Johnson, R. A., Keeter, K. J., Kidd, M. F., Kochetov, O., Konovalov, S. I., Kouzes, R. T., LaFerriere, B. D., Leon, J., Loach, J. C., MacMullin, J., MacMullin, S., Martin, R. D., Massarczyk, Ralph, Meijer, S., Mertens, S., Miller, M. L., Orrell, J. L., O'Shaughnessy, C., Overman, N. R., Poon, A. W. P., Pushkin, K., Radford, D. C., Rager, J., Rielage, Keith Robert, Robertson, R. G. H., Romero-Romero, E., Ronquest, M. C., Schubert, A. G., Shanks, B., Shirchenko, M., Snavely, K. J., Snyder, N., Steele, D., Suriano, A. M., Tedeschi, D., Trimble, J. E., Varner, R. L., Vasilyev, S., Vetter, K., Vorren, K., White, B. R., Wilkerson, J. F., Wiseman, C., Xu, W., Yakushev, E., Yu, C. -H., Yumatov, V., and Zhitnikov, I. The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070.
Abgrall, N., Arnquist, I. J., Avignone, F. T., Back, H. O., Barabash, A. S., Bertrand, F. E., Boswell, Melissa, Bradley, A. W., Brudanin, V., Busch, M., Buuck, M., Byram, D., Caldwell, A. S., Chan, Y. -D., Christofferson, C. D., Chu, Pinghan, Cuesta, C., Detwiler, J. A., Dunmore, J. A., Efremenko, Yu., Ejiri, H., Elliott, S. R., Finnerty, P., Galindo-Uribarri, A., Gehman, V. M., Gilliss, T., Giovanetti, G. K., Goett, John Jerome, Green, M. P., Gruszko, J., Guinn, I. S., Guiseppe, V. E., Henning, R., Hoppe, E. W., Howard, S., Howe, M. A., Jasinski, B. R., Johnson, R. A., Keeter, K. J., Kidd, M. F., Kochetov, O., Konovalov, S. I., Kouzes, R. T., LaFerriere, B. D., Leon, J., Loach, J. C., MacMullin, J., MacMullin, S., Martin, R. D., Massarczyk, Ralph, Meijer, S., Mertens, S., Miller, M. L., Orrell, J. L., O'Shaughnessy, C., Overman, N. R., Poon, A. W. P., Pushkin, K., Radford, D. C., Rager, J., Rielage, Keith Robert, Robertson, R. G. H., Romero-Romero, E., Ronquest, M. C., Schubert, A. G., Shanks, B., Shirchenko, M., Snavely, K. J., Snyder, N., Steele, D., Suriano, A. M., Tedeschi, D., Trimble, J. E., Varner, R. L., Vasilyev, S., Vetter, K., Vorren, K., White, B. R., Wilkerson, J. F., Wiseman, C., Xu, W., Yakushev, E., Yu, C. -H., Yumatov, V., & Zhitnikov, I. The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070
Abgrall, N., Arnquist, I. J., Avignone, F. T., Back, H. O., Barabash, A. S., Bertrand, F. E., Boswell, Melissa, Bradley, A. W., Brudanin, V., Busch, M., Buuck, M., Byram, D., Caldwell, A. S., Chan, Y. -D., Christofferson, C. D., Chu, Pinghan, Cuesta, C., Detwiler, J. A., Dunmore, J. A., Efremenko, Yu., Ejiri, H., Elliott, S. R., Finnerty, P., Galindo-Uribarri, A., Gehman, V. M., Gilliss, T., Giovanetti, G. K., Goett, John Jerome, Green, M. P., Gruszko, J., Guinn, I. S., Guiseppe, V. E., Henning, R., Hoppe, E. W., Howard, S., Howe, M. A., Jasinski, B. R., Johnson, R. A., Keeter, K. J., Kidd, M. F., Kochetov, O., Konovalov, S. I., Kouzes, R. T., LaFerriere, B. D., Leon, J., Loach, J. C., MacMullin, J., MacMullin, S., Martin, R. D., Massarczyk, Ralph, Meijer, S., Mertens, S., Miller, M. L., Orrell, J. L., O'Shaughnessy, C., Overman, N. R., Poon, A. W. P., Pushkin, K., Radford, D. C., Rager, J., Rielage, Keith Robert, Robertson, R. G. H., Romero-Romero, E., Ronquest, M. C., Schubert, A. G., Shanks, B., Shirchenko, M., Snavely, K. J., Snyder, N., Steele, D., Suriano, A. M., Tedeschi, D., Trimble, J. E., Varner, R. L., Vasilyev, S., Vetter, K., Vorren, K., White, B. R., Wilkerson, J. F., Wiseman, C., Xu, W., Yakushev, E., Yu, C. -H., Yumatov, V., and Zhitnikov, I. 2016. "The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1338740.
@article{osti_1338740,
title = {The Majorana Demonstrator radioassay program},
author = {Abgrall, N. and Arnquist, I. J. and Avignone, F. T. and Back, H. O. and Barabash, A. S. and Bertrand, F. E. and Boswell, Melissa and Bradley, A. W. and Brudanin, V. and Busch, M. and Buuck, M. and Byram, D. and Caldwell, A. S. and Chan, Y. -D. and Christofferson, C. D. and Chu, Pinghan and Cuesta, C. and Detwiler, J. A. and Dunmore, J. A. and Efremenko, Yu. and Ejiri, H. and Elliott, S. R. and Finnerty, P. and Galindo-Uribarri, A. and Gehman, V. M. and Gilliss, T. and Giovanetti, G. K. and Goett, John Jerome and Green, M. P. and Gruszko, J. and Guinn, I. S. and Guiseppe, V. E. and Henning, R. and Hoppe, E. W. and Howard, S. and Howe, M. A. and Jasinski, B. R. and Johnson, R. A. and Keeter, K. J. and Kidd, M. F. and Kochetov, O. and Konovalov, S. I. and Kouzes, R. T. and LaFerriere, B. D. and Leon, J. and Loach, J. C. and MacMullin, J. and MacMullin, S. and Martin, R. D. and Massarczyk, Ralph and Meijer, S. and Mertens, S. and Miller, M. L. and Orrell, J. L. and O'Shaughnessy, C. and Overman, N. R. and Poon, A. W. P. and Pushkin, K. and Radford, D. C. and Rager, J. and Rielage, Keith Robert and Robertson, R. G. H. and Romero-Romero, E. and Ronquest, M. C. and Schubert, A. G. and Shanks, B. and Shirchenko, M. and Snavely, K. J. and Snyder, N. and Steele, D. and Suriano, A. M. and Tedeschi, D. and Trimble, J. E. and Varner, R. L. and Vasilyev, S. and Vetter, K. and Vorren, K. and White, B. R. and Wilkerson, J. F. and Wiseman, C. and Xu, W. and Yakushev, E. and Yu, C. -H. and Yumatov, V. and Zhitnikov, I.},
abstractNote = {The Majorana collaboration is constructing the Majorana Demonstrator at the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the Homestake gold mine, in Lead, SD. The apparatus will use Ge detectors, enriched in isotope 76Ge, to demonstrate the feasibility of a large-scale Ge detector experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The long half-life of this postulated process requires that the apparatus be extremely low in radioactive isotopes whose decays may produce backgrounds to the search. The radioassay program conducted by the collaboration to ensure that the materials comprising the apparatus are sufficiently pure is described. The resulting measurements from gamma-ray counting, neutron activation and mass spectroscopy of the radioactive-isotope contamination for the materials studied for use in the detector are reported. We interpret these numbers in the context of the expected background for the experiment.},
doi = {10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.070},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1338740}, journal = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment},
issn = {0168-9002},
number = C,
volume = 828,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Tue May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: A cross sectional view of a MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR cryostat. The strings within each cryostat hold a mixture of natural and enriched germanium detectors.

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