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Title: Cosmogenic backgrounds to $0νββ$ in EXO-200

Abstract

As neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments become more sensitive and intrinsic radioactivity in detector materials is reduced, previously minor contributions to the background must be understood and eliminated. With this in mind, cosmogenic backgrounds have been studied with the EXO-200 experiment. Using the EXO-200 TPC, the muon flux (through a flat horizontal surface) underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has been measured to be $$Φ$$ = 4.07±0.14 (sys)±0.03 (stat)×10-7 cm-2 s-1, with a vertical intensity of $$I_v$$ = 2.97+0.14-0.13 (sys) ± 0.02 (stat) × 10-7 cm-2 s-1 sr-1. Simulations of muon-induced backgrounds identified several potential cosmogenic radionuclides, though only 137Xe is a significant background for the 136Xe $0νββ$ search with EXO-200. Muon-induced neutron backgrounds were measured using $$γ$$-rays from neutron capture on the detector materials. This provided a measurement of 137Xe yield, and a test of the accuracy of the neutron production and transport simulations. The independently measured rates of 136Xe neutron capture and of 137Xe decay agree within uncertainties. Geant4 and FLUKA simulations were performed to estimate neutron capture rates, and these estimates agreed to within ~ 40% or better with measurements. The ability to identify 136Xe($n,γ$) events will allow for rejection of 137Xe backgrounds in future $0νββ$ analyses.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [5];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [4];  [9];  [6];  [5];  [1];  [6];  [11];  [10];  [12] more »;  [2];  [13];  [5];  [14];  [15];  [9];  [10];  [16];  [17];  [18];  [12];  [19];  [15];  [12];  [20];  [6];  [2];  [12];  [6];  [21];  [17];  [5];  [21];  [15];  [15];  [12];  [13];  [5];  [22];  [23];  [15];  [14];  [4];  [24];  [25];  [6];  [12];  [22];  [26];  [6];  [12];  [2];  [17];  [6];  [13];  [6];  [6];  [12];  [19];  [14];  [5];  [22];  [11];  [2];  [12];  [11];  [6];  [4];  [9];  [12];  [8];  [10];  [26];  [4];  [14];  [5] « less
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Physics, CEEM
  2. Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
  3. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States), Triangle Universities Nuclear Lab. (TUNL), Dept. of Physics
  4. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Physics Dept.
  5. Inst. for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow (Russia)
  6. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  7. McGill Univ., Montreal, QC (Canada). Dept of Physics; TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
  8. Inst. of High Energy Physics, Beijing (China)
  9. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States). Physics Dept.
  10. Laurentian Univ., Sudbury, ON (Canada). Dept. of Physics
  11. Univ. of Bern, Bern (Switzerland). Albert Einstein Center, LHEP
  12. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Physics
  13. TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
  14. Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Physics
  15. Carleton Univ., Ottawa, ON (Canada). Physics Dept.
  16. Technische Univ. Munchen, Garching (Germany). Dept. Physik, Excellence Cluster Universe
  17. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States). Amherst Center for Fundamental Interactions and Physics Dept.
  18. Technische Univ. Munchen, Garching (Germany). Dept. Physik, and Excellence Cluster Universe
  19. Carleton Univ., Ottawa, ON (Canada). Physics Dept.; TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
  20. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Physics
  21. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Physics, and CEEM
  22. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
  23. Inst. of Basic Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of). Center for Underground Physics
  24. Univ. of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD (United States). Physics Dept.
  25. Technische Univ. Munchen, Garching (Germany). Dept. Physik and Excellence Cluster Universe
  26. Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), Carlsbad, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1523501
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 2016; Journal Issue: 04; Journal ID: ISSN 1475-7516
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

Citation Formats

Albert, J. B., Auty, D. J., Barbeau, P. S., Beck, D., Belov, V., Breidenbach, M., Brunner, T., Burenkov, A., Cao, G. F., Chambers, C., Cleveland, B., Coon, M., Craycraft, A., Daniels, T., Danilov, M., Daugherty, S. J., Davis, J., Delaquis, S., Mesrobian-Kabakian, A. Der, DeVoe, R., Didberidze, T., Dilling, J., Dolgolenko, A., Dolinski, M. J., Dunford, M., Jr., W. Fairbank, Farine, J., Feldmeier, W., Feyzbakhsh, S., Fierlinger, P., Fudenberg, D., Gornea, R., Graham, K., Gratta, G., Hall, C., Herrin, S., Hughes, M., Jewell, M. J., Johnson, A., Johnson, T. N., Johnston, S., Karelin, A., Kaufman, L. J., Killick, R., Koffas, T., Kravitz, S., Krücken, R., Kuchenkov, A., Kumar, K. S., Leonard, D. S., Licciardi, C., Lin, Y. H., Ling, J., MacLellan, R., Marino, M. G., Mong, B., Moore, D., Njoya, O., Nelson, R., Odian, A., Ostrovskiy, I., Piepke, A., Pocar, A., Prescott, C. Y., Retière, F., Rowson, P. C., Russell, J. J., Schubert, A., Sinclair, D., Smith, E., Stekhanov, V., Tarka, M., Tolba, T., Tsang, R., Twelker, K., Vuilleumier, J. -L., Waite, A., Walton, J., Walton, T., Weber, M., Wen, L. J., Wichoski, U., Wood, J., Yang, L., Yen, Y. -R., and Zeldovich, O. Ya. Cosmogenic backgrounds to $0νββ$ in EXO-200. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2016/04/029.
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Albert, J. B., Auty, D. J., Barbeau, P. S., Beck, D., Belov, V., Breidenbach, M., Brunner, T., Burenkov, A., Cao, G. F., Chambers, C., Cleveland, B., Coon, M., Craycraft, A., Daniels, T., Danilov, M., Daugherty, S. J., Davis, J., Delaquis, S., Mesrobian-Kabakian, A. Der, DeVoe, R., Didberidze, T., Dilling, J., Dolgolenko, A., Dolinski, M. J., Dunford, M., Jr., W. Fairbank, Farine, J., Feldmeier, W., Feyzbakhsh, S., Fierlinger, P., Fudenberg, D., Gornea, R., Graham, K., Gratta, G., Hall, C., Herrin, S., Hughes, M., Jewell, M. J., Johnson, A., Johnson, T. N., Johnston, S., Karelin, A., Kaufman, L. J., Killick, R., Koffas, T., Kravitz, S., Krücken, R., Kuchenkov, A., Kumar, K. S., Leonard, D. S., Licciardi, C., Lin, Y. H., Ling, J., MacLellan, R., Marino, M. G., Mong, B., Moore, D., Njoya, O., Nelson, R., Odian, A., Ostrovskiy, I., Piepke, A., Pocar, A., Prescott, C. Y., Retière, F., Rowson, P. C., Russell, J. J., Schubert, A., Sinclair, D., Smith, E., Stekhanov, V., Tarka, M., Tolba, T., Tsang, R., Twelker, K., Vuilleumier, J. -L., Waite, A., Walton, J., Walton, T., Weber, M., Wen, L. J., Wichoski, U., Wood, J., Yang, L., Yen, Y. -R., & Zeldovich, O. Ya. Cosmogenic backgrounds to $0νββ$ in EXO-200. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2016/04/029
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Albert, J. B., Auty, D. J., Barbeau, P. S., Beck, D., Belov, V., Breidenbach, M., Brunner, T., Burenkov, A., Cao, G. F., Chambers, C., Cleveland, B., Coon, M., Craycraft, A., Daniels, T., Danilov, M., Daugherty, S. J., Davis, J., Delaquis, S., Mesrobian-Kabakian, A. Der, DeVoe, R., Didberidze, T., Dilling, J., Dolgolenko, A., Dolinski, M. J., Dunford, M., Jr., W. Fairbank, Farine, J., Feldmeier, W., Feyzbakhsh, S., Fierlinger, P., Fudenberg, D., Gornea, R., Graham, K., Gratta, G., Hall, C., Herrin, S., Hughes, M., Jewell, M. J., Johnson, A., Johnson, T. N., Johnston, S., Karelin, A., Kaufman, L. J., Killick, R., Koffas, T., Kravitz, S., Krücken, R., Kuchenkov, A., Kumar, K. S., Leonard, D. S., Licciardi, C., Lin, Y. H., Ling, J., MacLellan, R., Marino, M. G., Mong, B., Moore, D., Njoya, O., Nelson, R., Odian, A., Ostrovskiy, I., Piepke, A., Pocar, A., Prescott, C. Y., Retière, F., Rowson, P. C., Russell, J. J., Schubert, A., Sinclair, D., Smith, E., Stekhanov, V., Tarka, M., Tolba, T., Tsang, R., Twelker, K., Vuilleumier, J. -L., Waite, A., Walton, J., Walton, T., Weber, M., Wen, L. J., Wichoski, U., Wood, J., Yang, L., Yen, Y. -R., and Zeldovich, O. Ya. Fri . "Cosmogenic backgrounds to $0νββ$ in EXO-200". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2016/04/029. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1523501.
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@article{osti_1523501,
title = {Cosmogenic backgrounds to $0νββ$ in EXO-200},
author = {Albert, J. B. and Auty, D. J. and Barbeau, P. S. and Beck, D. and Belov, V. and Breidenbach, M. and Brunner, T. and Burenkov, A. and Cao, G. F. and Chambers, C. and Cleveland, B. and Coon, M. and Craycraft, A. and Daniels, T. and Danilov, M. and Daugherty, S. J. and Davis, J. and Delaquis, S. and Mesrobian-Kabakian, A. Der and DeVoe, R. and Didberidze, T. and Dilling, J. and Dolgolenko, A. and Dolinski, M. J. and Dunford, M. and Jr., W. Fairbank and Farine, J. and Feldmeier, W. and Feyzbakhsh, S. and Fierlinger, P. and Fudenberg, D. and Gornea, R. and Graham, K. and Gratta, G. and Hall, C. and Herrin, S. and Hughes, M. and Jewell, M. J. and Johnson, A. and Johnson, T. N. and Johnston, S. and Karelin, A. and Kaufman, L. J. and Killick, R. and Koffas, T. and Kravitz, S. and Krücken, R. and Kuchenkov, A. and Kumar, K. S. and Leonard, D. S. and Licciardi, C. and Lin, Y. H. and Ling, J. and MacLellan, R. and Marino, M. G. and Mong, B. and Moore, D. and Njoya, O. and Nelson, R. and Odian, A. and Ostrovskiy, I. and Piepke, A. and Pocar, A. and Prescott, C. Y. and Retière, F. and Rowson, P. C. and Russell, J. J. and Schubert, A. and Sinclair, D. and Smith, E. and Stekhanov, V. and Tarka, M. and Tolba, T. and Tsang, R. and Twelker, K. and Vuilleumier, J. -L. and Waite, A. and Walton, J. and Walton, T. and Weber, M. and Wen, L. J. and Wichoski, U. and Wood, J. and Yang, L. and Yen, Y. -R. and Zeldovich, O. Ya.},
abstractNote = {As neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments become more sensitive and intrinsic radioactivity in detector materials is reduced, previously minor contributions to the background must be understood and eliminated. With this in mind, cosmogenic backgrounds have been studied with the EXO-200 experiment. Using the EXO-200 TPC, the muon flux (through a flat horizontal surface) underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has been measured to be $Φ$ = 4.07±0.14 (sys)±0.03 (stat)×10-7 cm-2 s-1, with a vertical intensity of $I_v$ = 2.97+0.14-0.13 (sys) ± 0.02 (stat) × 10-7 cm-2 s-1 sr-1. Simulations of muon-induced backgrounds identified several potential cosmogenic radionuclides, though only 137Xe is a significant background for the 136Xe $0νββ$ search with EXO-200. Muon-induced neutron backgrounds were measured using $γ$-rays from neutron capture on the detector materials. This provided a measurement of 137Xe yield, and a test of the accuracy of the neutron production and transport simulations. The independently measured rates of 136Xe neutron capture and of 137Xe decay agree within uncertainties. Geant4 and FLUKA simulations were performed to estimate neutron capture rates, and these estimates agreed to within ~ 40% or better with measurements. The ability to identify 136Xe($n,γ$) events will allow for rejection of 137Xe backgrounds in future $0νββ$ analyses.},
doi = {10.1088/1475-7516/2016/04/029},
journal = {Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics},
number = 04,
volume = 2016,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2016/04/029
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Cosmogenic activation of materials
conference, January 2005

  • Amaré, J.
  • TOPICAL WORKSHOP ON LOW RADIOACTIVITY TECHNIQUES: LRT 2004, AIP Conference Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.2060480

Cosmogenic activation of materials
conference, January 2013

  • Cebrián, S.
  • LOW RADIOACTIVITY TECHNIQUES 2013 (LRT 2013): Proceedings of the IV International Workshop in Low Radioactivity Techniques, AIP Conference Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4818094

Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay with the Upgraded EXO-200 Detector
text, January 2017

Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay with the Complete EXO-200 Dataset
text, January 2019

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