Search for the double-. beta. decay of /sup 76/Ge

Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986 · Phys. Rev. C; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.34.666· OSTI ID:5490378

Brodzinski, R L; Evans, Jr, J C; Hensley, W K; Miley, H S; Reeves, J H

A systematic study of the radioactive background in materials used in Ge-detector fabrication was conducted prior to the construction of an ultralow-background, 135 cm/sup 3/ prototype detector. The background from primordial radioactivities in the new system was lower by factors of between 1.5 x 10/sup 3/ and 2.5 x 10/sup 4/ when compared to commercial low-background detectors. Data were collected for 8089 h with the detector located 1438 m underground, resulting in improved lower limits for the half-lives for both two-neutrino and neutrinoless ..beta beta.. decay of /sup 76/Ge to the ground state of /sup 76/Se and for the neutrinoless ..beta beta.. decay to the first excited state of /sup 76/Se. The results of four recent theoretical calculations are compared in detail and used to extract limits on , the Majorana mass of ..nu../sub e-italic/, and on the amplitudes of the couplings of right-handed Majorana neutrinos. The best combination of the lowest background data from recent experiments results in a new limit T-italic/sub 1/2//sup 0//sup ..nu../approx. >3 x 10/sup 23/ yr, corresponding to <2.4 eV neglecting right-handed couplings or 2.8 eV including both right-handed neutrino couplings.

• Research Organization: University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208
• OSTI ID: 5490378
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. C; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. C; (United States) Vol. 34:2; ISSN PRVCA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440103 -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Nuclear Spectroscopic Instrumentation
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
651622* -- Nuclear Properties &amp; Reactions
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Experimental-- Radioactive Decay-- (-1987)
651623 -- Nuclear Properties &amp; Reactions
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Experimental-- Energy Levels &amp; Transitions-- (-1987)
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
BACKGROUND RADIATION
BETA DECAY
BETA-MINUS DECAY
DECAY
DOUBLE BETA DECAY
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY
ENERGY LEVELS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
GERMANIUM 76
GERMANIUM ISOTOPES
GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
HALF-LIFE
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LEPTONS
LIE GROUPS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATRIX ELEMENTS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRINOS
NUCLEAR STRUCTURE
NUCLEI
PARTICLE MODELS
Q-VALUE
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATIONS
SELENIUM 76
SELENIUM ISOTOPES
SO GROUPS
SO-10 GROUPS
STABLE ISOTOPES
SU GROUPS
SU-5 GROUPS
SYMMETRY GROUPS
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
UNIFIED-FIELD THEORIES