The Majorana Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay Experiment

The proposed Majorana double-beta decay experiment is based on an array of segmented intrinsic Ge detectors with a total mass of 500 kg of Ge isotopically enriched to 86% in 76Ge. A discussion is given of background reduction by: material selection, detector segmentation, pulse shape analysis, and electro-formation of copper parts and granularity. Predictions of the experimental sensitivity are given. For an experimental running time of 10 years over the construction and operation of Majorana, a half-life sensitivity of ~4x10^27 y (neutrinoless) is predicted. This corresponds to an effective Majorana mass of the electron neutrino of ~0.03-0.04 eV, according to recent QRPA and RQRPA matrix element calculations.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

The proposed Majorana 76Ge double-beta decay experiment

The proposed Majorana experiment is based on an array of segmented intrinsic Ge detectors with a total mass of 500 kg of Ge isotopically enriched to 86% in 76Ge. Background reduction will be accomplished by: material selection, detector segmentation, pulse shape analysis, electro-formation of copper parts, and granularity of detector spacing. The predicted experimental sensitivity for measurement of the neutrinoless double-beta decay mode of 76Ge, over a data acquisition period of 5000 kg·y, is T1/20ν ∼ 4×1027y. © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V