251 research outputs found
TeO bolometers with Cherenkov signal tagging: towards next-generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiments
CUORE, an array of 988 TeO bolometers, is about to be one of the most
sensitive experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Its
sensitivity could be further improved by removing the background from
radioactivity. A few years ago it has been pointed out that the signal from
s can be tagged by detecting the emitted Cherenkov light, which is not
produced by s. In this paper we confirm this possibility. For the first
time we measured the Cherenkov light emitted by a CUORE crystal, and found it
to be 100 eV at the -value of the decay. To completely reject the
background, we compute that one needs light detectors with baseline noise below
20 eV RMS, a value which is 3-4 times smaller than the average noise of the
bolometric light detectors we are using. We point out that an improved light
detector technology must be developed to obtain TeO bolometric experiments
able to probe the inverted hierarchy of neutrino masses.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Added referee correction
Particle Discrimination in TeO Bolometers using Light Detectors read out by Transition Edge Sensors
An active discrimination of the dominant -background is the
prerequisite for future neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments based on
TeO bolometers. We investigate such -particle rejection in
cryogenic TeO bolometers by the detection of Cherenkov light. For a setup
consisting of a massive TeO crystal (285 g) and a separate cryogenic
light detector, both using transition edge sensors as temperature sensors
operated at around 10 mK, we obtain an event-by-event identification of
e/- and -events. We find in the energy interval ranging from
2400 keV to 2800 keV and covering the Q-value of the neutrinoless double-beta
decay of Te a separation of the means of the two populations of 3.7
times their width.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Cryogenic Detectors for Rare Alpha Decay Search: A New Approach
The detection of Sm alpha decay with a precise measured half-life of and a Q-value of 1987.3 0.5 keV was achieved by a new experimental approach, where a conventional ZnWO scintillating crystal doped with enriched Sm isotope is operated as a cryogenic scintillating bolometer (phonon and light channel) at mK-temperatures
Results from 730 kg days of the CRESST-II Dark Matter Search
The CRESST-II cryogenic Dark Matter search, aiming at detection of WIMPs via
elastic scattering off nuclei in CaWO crystals, completed 730 kg days of
data taking in 2011. We present the data collected with eight detector modules,
each with a two-channel readout; one for a phonon signal and the other for
coincidently produced scintillation light. The former provides a precise
measure of the energy deposited by an interaction, and the ratio of
scintillation light to deposited energy can be used to discriminate different
types of interacting particles and thus to distinguish possible signal events
from the dominant backgrounds. Sixty-seven events are found in the acceptance
region where a WIMP signal in the form of low energy nuclear recoils would be
expected. We estimate background contributions to this observation from four
sources: 1) "leakage" from the e/\gamma-band 2) "leakage" from the
\alpha-particle band 3) neutrons and 4) Pb-206 recoils from Po-210 decay. Using
a maximum likelihood analysis, we find, at a high statistical significance,
that these sources alone are not sufficient to explain the data. The addition
of a signal due to scattering of relatively light WIMPs could account for this
discrepancy, and we determine the associated WIMP parameters.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figure
The CRESST II Dark Matter Search
Direct Dark Matter detection with cryodetectors is briefly discussed, with
particular mention of the possibility of the identification of the recoil
nucleus. Preliminary results from the CREEST II Dark Matter search, with 730
kg-days of data, are presented. Major backgrounds and methods of identifying
and dealing with them are indicated.Comment: Talk at DSU workshop, ITP Beijing, Oct. 2011. 9 figures, 2 table
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