The MAJORANA 76Ge neutrino less double-beta decay project: A brief update

At present, MAJORANA is a research and development (R&D) project to investigate the feasibility and cost of constructing and operating a one ton decay experiment with ~1000 kg of Ge detectors fabricated from germanium enriched to 86% in . The study will include three separate cryostats with various types of detectors: un-segmented, un-segmented point-contact, minimally segmented, and highly segmented. One cryostat will contain at least 30 kg of enriched (preferably point-contact) detectors. The performance of the cryostats and detectors as well as background levels will be investigated. The goal of the demonstrator project is to reach a discovery sensitivity of ~ 1026 y.Comment: 3 pages, no figure

Calorimeter R&D for the SuperNEMO Double Beta Decay Experiment

SuperNEMO is a next-generation double beta decay experiment based on the successful tracking plus calorimetry design approach of the NEMO3 experiment currently running in the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM). SuperNEMO can study a range of isotopes, the baseline isotopes are 82Se and possibly 150Nd. The total isotope mass will be 100-200 kg. A sensitivity to neutrinoless double beta decay half-life greater than 10e26 years can be reached which gives access to Majorana neutrino masses of 50-100 meV. One of the main challenges of the SuperNEMO R&D is the development of the calorimeter with an unprecedented energy resolution of 4% FWHM at 3 MeV (Qbb value of 82Se).Comment: Presented at 13th International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics (CALOR08), Pavia, Italy, 26-30 May 200

Coherent Neutral Current Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering at a Spallation Source; a Valuable Experimental Probe

The coherent contribution of all neutrons in neutrino nucleus scattering due to the neutral current is examined considering the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) as a source of neutrinos. SNS is a prolific pulsed source of electron and muon neutrinos as well as muon antineutrinos.Comment: 15 LaTex pages, 14 figures, 3 Table

Relevance of Ion-Channeling for Direct DM Detection

The channeling of the recoiling nucleus in crystalline detectors after a WIMP collision would produce a larger scintillation or ionization signal in direct detection experiments than otherwise expected. I present estimates of the importance of this effect for the total direct detection rate and the daily modulation of the signal using analytic models produced in the 1960's and 70's to describe the effects of channeling and blocking in crystals.Comment: Talk given at the TAUP 2009 conference, Rome, Italy, July 1-5 2009. 3 pages, 4 figures. jpconf.cls and jpconf11.clo files need to typeset the tex fil