713 research outputs found
Search for double beta decay of Ce and Ce with HPGe gamma detector
Search for double decay of Ce and Ce was realized
with 732 g of deeply purified cerium oxide sample measured over 1900 h with the
help of an ultra-low background HPGe detector with a volume of 465
cm at the STELLA facility of the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the
INFN (Italy). New improved half-life limits on double beta processes in the
cerium isotopes were set at the level of ~yr;
many of them are even two orders of magnitude larger than the best previous
results.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables; version accepted for publication on
Nucl. Phys.
New limits on , and decay of Ce and Ce with deeply purified cerium sample
A search for double electron capture (), electron capture with
positron emission (), and double positron emission
) in Ce and Ce was realized with a 465 cm
ultra-low background HP Ge spectrometer over 2299 h at the Gran Sasso
underground laboratory. A 627 g sample of cerium oxide deeply purified by
liquid-liquid extraction method was used as a source of quanta
expected in double decay of the cerium isotopes. New improved half-life
limits were set on different modes and channels of double decay of
Ce and Ce at the level of yr.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Preliminary study of feasibility of an experiment looking for excited state double beta transitions in tin
An attempt to study the feasibility of a new experiment to search for double
beta decay in Sn and Sn was carried out by using ultra-low
background HPGe detector (244 cm) inside the Gran Sasso National
Laboratory (LNGS) of the INFN (Italy). A small sample of natural Sn was
examined for 2367.5 h. The radioactive contamination of the sample has been
estimated. The data has also been considered to calculate the present
sensitivity for the proposed search; half-life limits years for EC and EC-EC processes in Sn and
years for transition in Sn were
measured. In the last section of the paper the enhancement of the sensitivity
for a proposed experiment with larger mass to reach theoretically estimated
values of half-lives is discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in NIMA (in
press
First search for double-beta decay of 184Os and 192Os
A search for double-beta decay of osmium has been realized for the first time
with the help of an ultra-low background HPGe gamma detector at the underground
Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN (Italy). After 2741 h of data
taking with a 173 g ultra-pure osmium sample limits on double-beta processes in
184Os have been established at the level of T_{1/2} about 10^{14}-10^{17} yr.
Possible resonant double-electron captures in 184Os were searched for with a
sensitivity T_{1/2} about 10^{16} yr. A half-life limit T_{1/2} > 5.3 10^{19}
yr was set for the double-beta decay of 192Os to the first excited level of
192Pt. The radiopurity of the osmium sample has been investigated and
radionuclides 137Cs, 185Os and 207Bi were detected in the sample, while
activities of 40K, 60Co, 226Ra and 232Th were limited at the mBq/kg level.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 2 table
Search for 2\beta\ decays of 96Ru and 104Ru by ultra-low background HPGe gamma spectrometry at LNGS: final results
An experiment to search for double beta decay processes in 96Ru and 104Ru,
which are accompanied by gamma rays, has been realized in the underground Gran
Sasso National Laboratories of the I.N.F.N. (Italy). Ruthenium samples with
masses of about (0.5-0.7) kg were measured with the help of ultra-low
background high purity Ge gamma ray spectrometry. After 2162 h of data taking
the samples were deeply purified to reduce the internal contamination of 40K.
The last part of the data has been accumulated over 5479 h. New improved half
life limits on 2\beta+/\epsilon \beta+/2\epsilon\ processes in 96Ru have been
established on the level of 10^{20} yr, in particular for decays to the ground
state of 96Mo: T1/2(2\nu 2\beta+) > 1.4 10^{20} yr, T1/2(2\nu \epsilon\beta+) >
8.0 10^{19} yr and T1/2(0\nu 2K) > 1.0 10^{21} yr (all limits are at 90% C.L.).
The resonant neutrinoless double electron captures to the 2700.2 keV and 2712.7
keV excited states of 96Mo are restricted as: T1/2(0\nu KL) > 2.0 10^{20} yr
and T1/2(0\nu 2L) > 3.6 10^{20} yr, respectively. Various two neutrino and
neutrinoless 2\beta\ half lives of 96Ru have been estimated in the framework of
the QRPA approach. In addition, the T1/2 limit for 0\nu 2\beta- transitions of
104Ru to the first excited state of 104Pd has been set as > 6.5 10^{20} yr.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; version accepted for publication on
Phys. Rev.
Low-Background gamma counting at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility
The next generation of low-background physics experiments will require the
use of materials with unprecedented radio-purity. A gamma-counting facility at
the Kimballton Underground Research Facility (KURF) has been commissioned to
perform initial screening of materials for radioactivity primarily from
nuclides in the 238U and 232Th decay chains, 40K and cosmic-ray induced
isotopes. The facility consists of two commercial low-background high purity
germanium (HPGe) detectors. A continuum background reduction better than a
factor of 10 was achieved by going underground. This paper describes the
facility, detector systems, analysis techniques and selected assay results.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to NIM
Improvement of radiopurity level of enriched CdWO and ZnWO crystal scintillators by recrystallization
As low as possible radioactive contamination of a detector plays a crucial
role to improve sensitivity of a double beta decay experiment. The radioactive
contamination of a sample of CdWO crystal scintillator by thorium
was reduced by a factor , down to the level 0.01 mBq/kg
(Th), by exploiting the recrystallization procedure. The total alpha
activity of uranium and thorium daughters was reduced by a factor ,
down to 1.6 mBq/kg. No change in the specific activity (the total
activity and Th) was observed in a sample of ZnWO crystal produced
by recrystallization after removing mm surface layer of the
crystal.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures and 2 table
Radioactive contamination of ZnWO4 crystal scintillators
The radioactive contamination of ZnWO4 crystal scintillators has been
measured deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the
INFN in Italy with a total exposure 3197 kg x h. Monte Carlo simulation,
time-amplitude and pulse-shape analyses of the data have been applied to
estimate the radioactive contamination of the ZnWO4 samples. One of the ZnWO4
crystals has also been tested by ultra-low background gamma spectrometry. The
radioactive contaminations of the ZnWO4 samples do not exceed 0.002 -- 0.8
mBq/kg (depending on the radionuclide), the total alpha activity is in the
range: 0.2 - 2 mBq/kg. Particular radioactivity, beta active 65Zn and alpha
active 180W, has been detected. The effect of the re-crystallization on the
radiopurity of the ZnWO4 crystal has been studied. The radioactive
contamination of samples of the ceramic details of the set-ups used in the
crystals growth has been checked by low background gamma spectrometry. A
project scheme on further improvement of the radiopurity level of the ZnWO4
crystal scintillators is briefly addressed.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, submitted for publicatio
Deep-underground search for the decay of 180m-Ta with an ultra-low-background HPGe detector
Ta is the longest-lived metastable state presently known. Its decay
has not been observed yet. In this work, we report a new result on the decay of
Ta obtained with a -g tantalum sample measured for d
with an ultra-low background HPGe detector in the STELLA laboratory of the
Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, in Italy. Before the measurement, the
sample has been stored deep-underground for ten years, resulting in subdominant
background contributions from cosmogenically activated Ta. We observe
no signal in the regions of interest and set half-life limits on the process
for the two channels EC and : yr and yr (% C. I.),
respectively. We also set the limit on the de-excitation / IC channel:
yr (% C. I.). These are, as of
now, the most stringent bounds on the decay of Ta worldwide.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 4 table
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