$$\alpha $$-event characterization and rejection in point-contact HPGe detectors

Arnquist, I. J.; Avignone, III, F. T.; Barabash, A. S.; Barton, C. J.; Bertrand, F. E.; Blalock, E.; Bos, B.; Busch, M.; Buuck, M.; Caldwell, T. S.; Chan, Y. -D.; Christofferson, C. D.; Chu, P. -H.; Clark, M. L.; Cuesta, C.; Detwiler, J. A.; Drobizhev, A.; Edwards, T. R.; Edwins, D. W.; Edzards, F.; Efremenko, Y.; Elliott, S. R.; Gilliss, T.; Giovanetti, G. K.; Green, M. P.; Gruszko, J.; Guinn, I. S.; Guiseppe, V. E.; Haufe, C. R.; Hegedus, R. J.; Henning, R.; Aguilar, D. Hervas; Hoppe, E. W.; Hostiuc, A.; Kim, I.; Kouzes, R. T.; Lopez, A. M.; López-Castaño, J. M.; Martin, E. L.; Martin, R. D.; Massarczyk, R.; Meijer, S. J.; Mertens, S.; Myslik, J.; Oli, T. K.; Othman, G.; Pettus, W.; Poon, A. W. P.; Radford, D. C.; Rager, J.; Reine, A. L.; Rielage, K.; Ruof, N. W.; Saykı, B.; Schönert, S.; Stortini, M. J.; Tedeschi, D.; Varner, R. L.; Vasilyev, S.; Wilkerson, J. F.; Willers, M.; Wiseman, C.; Xu, W.; Yu, C. -H.; Zhu, B. X.

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10161-y

$$$$\alpha $$$$-event characterization and rejection in point-contact HPGe detectors

Journal Article · Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · European Physical Journal. C, Particles and Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10161-y· OSTI ID:1854947

Arnquist, I. J.; Avignone, III, F. T.; Barabash, A. S.; Barton, C. J.; Bertrand, F. E.; Blalock, E.; Bos, B.; Busch, M.; Buuck, M.; Caldwell, T. S.; Chan, Y. -D.; Christofferson, C. D.; Chu, P. -H.; Clark, M. L.; Cuesta, C.; Detwiler, J. A.; Drobizhev, A.; Edwards, T. R.; Edwins, D. W.; Edzards, F. more »

Abstract

P-type point contact (PPC) HPGe detectors are a leading technology for rare event searches due to their excellent energy resolution, low thresholds, and multi-site event rejection capabilities. We have characterized a PPC detector’s response to $$$$\alpha $$$$ $α$ particles incident on the sensitive passivated and p $$^+$$ $^{+}$ surfaces, a previously poorly-understood source of background. The detector studied is identical to those in the Majorana Demonstrator experiment, a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ( $$$$0\nu \beta \beta $$$$ $0 ν β β$ ) in $$$$^{76}$$$$ $^{76}$ Ge. $$$$\alpha $$$$ $α$ decays on most of the passivated surface exhibit significant energy loss due to charge trapping, with waveforms exhibiting a delayed charge recovery (DCR) signature caused by the slow collection of a fraction of the trapped charge. The DCR is found to be complementary to existing methods of $$$$\alpha $$$$ $α$ identification, reliably identifying $$$$\alpha $$$$ $α$ background events on the passivated surface of the detector. We demonstrate effective rejection of all surface $$$$\alpha $$$$ $α$ events (to within statistical uncertainty) with a loss of only 0.2% of bulk events by combining the DCR discriminator with previously-used methods. The DCR discriminator has been used to reduce the background rate in the $$$$0\nu \beta \beta $$$$ $0 ν β β$ region of interest window by an order of magnitude in the Majorana Demonstrator and will be used in the upcoming LEGEND-200 experiment.

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Research Organization:: Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States). Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)

Contributing Organization:: Majorana Collaboration

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001; AC02-05CH11231; AC02-76SF00515; AC05-00OR22725; AC05-76RL01830; FG02-97ER41020; FG02-97ER41033; FG02-97ER41041; SC0012612; SC0014445; SC0018060

OSTI ID:: 1854947

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1862683
OSTI ID: 1864992
OSTI ID: 1867256
OSTI ID: 1870698
OSTI ID: 1887675
OSTI ID: 1670140
OSTI ID: 1896677
OSTI ID: 23132882
OSTI ID: 1907797

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-20-24209; PNNL-SA-153353; 226; PII: 10161

Journal Information:: European Physical Journal. C, Particles and Fields, Journal Name: European Physical Journal. C, Particles and Fields Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 82; ISSN 1434-6044

Publisher:: Springer Science + Business MediaCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: Germany

Language:: English

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