0000000000023664
AUTHOR
Hector Gomez
Design and characterization of the SiPM tracking system of NEXT-DEMO, a demonstrator prototype of the NEXT-100 experiment
NEXT-100 experiment aims at searching the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the Xe-136 isotope using a TPC filled with a 100 kg of high-pressure gaseous xenon, with 90% isotopic enrichment. The experiment will take place at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC), Spain. NEXT-100 uses electroluminescence (EL) technology for energy measurement with a resolution better than 1% FWHM. The gaseous xenon in the TPC additionally allows the tracks of the two beta particles to be recorded, which are expected to have a length of up to 30 cm at 10 bar pressure. The ability to record the topological signature of the beta beta 0 nu events provides a powerful background rejection factor for the bet…
Spectral modeling of scintillator for the NEMO-3 and SuperNEMO detectors
We have constructed a GEANT4-based detailed software model of photon transport in plastic scintillator blocks and have used it to study the NEMO-3 and SuperNEMO calorimeters employed in experiments designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. We compare our simulations to measurements using conversion electrons from a calibration source of $\rm ^{207}Bi$ and show that the agreement is improved if wavelength-dependent properties of the calorimeter are taken into account. In this article, we briefly describe our modeling approach and results of our studies.
Operation and first results of the NEXT-DEMO prototype using a silicon photomultiplier tracking array
NEXT-DEMO is a high-pressure xenon gas TPC which acts as a technological test-bed and demonstrator for the NEXT-100 neutrinoless double beta decay experiment. In its current configuration the apparatus fully implements the NEXT-100 design concept. This is an asymmetric TPC, with an energy plane made of photomultipliers and a tracking plane made of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) coated with TPB. The detector in this new configuration has been used to reconstruct the characteristic signature of electrons in dense gas, demonstrating the ability to identify the MIP and "blob" regions. Moreover, the SiPM tracking plane allows for the definition of a large fiducial region in which an excellent e…
Description and commissioning of NEXT-MM prototype: first results from operation in a Xenon-Trimethylamine gas mixture
[EN] A technical description of NEXT-MM and its commissioning and first performance is reported. Having an active volume of ∼35 cm drift × 28 cm diameter, it constitutes the largest Micromegas-read TPC operated in Xenon ever constructed, made by a sectorial arrangement of the 4 largest single wafers manufactured with the Microbulk technique to date. It is equipped with a suitably pixelized readout and with a sufficiently large sensitive volume (∼23 l) so as to contain long (∼20 cm) electron tracks. First results obtained at 1 bar for Xenon and Trymethylamine (Xe-(2%)TMA) mixture are presented. The TPC can accurately reconstruct extended background tracks. An encouraging fu…
The Next Generation of Axion Helioscopes: The International Axion Observatory (IAXO)
Çetin, Serkant Ali (Dogus Author) -- Conference full title: 13th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics, TAUP 2013; Asilomar Conference Grounds Monterey Peninsula; United States; 8 September 2013 through 13 September 2013. The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a proposed 4th-generation axion helioscope with the primary physics research goal to search for solar axions via their Primakoff conversion into photons of 1 - 10 keV energies in a strong magnetic field. IAXO will achieve a sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling gaγ down to a few ×10-12 GeV-1 for a wide range of axion masses up to ∼ 0.25 eV. This is an improvement over the currently best …
Future axion searches with the International Axion Observatory (IAXO)
Çetin, Serkant Ali (Dogus Author) -- Conference full title: 6th Symposium on Large TPCs for Low Energy Rare Event Detection; Paris; France; 17 December 2012 through 19 December 2012. The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a new generation axion helioscope aiming at a sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling of gaγ ∼ few × 10-12 GeV-1, i.e. 1-1.5 orders of magnitude beyond the one achieved by CAST, currently the most sensitive axion helioscope. The main elements of IAXO are an increased magnetic field volume together with extensive use of x-ray focusing optics and low background detectors, innovations already successfully tested in CAST. Additional physics cases of IAXO could include …
Present Status and Future Perspectives of the NEXT Experiment
Gómez Cadenas, Juan José et al.
Search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ofMo100with the NEMO-3 detector
We report the results of a search for the neutrinoless double-$\beta$ decay (0$\nu\beta\beta$) of $^{100}$Mo, using the NEMO-3 detector to reconstruct the full topology of the final state events. With an exposure of 34.7 kg.y, no evidence for the 0$\nu\beta\beta$ signal has been found, yielding a limit for the light Majorana neutrino mass mechanism of $T_{1/2}(0\nu\beta\beta)>1.1 \times 10^{24}$ years (90% C.L.) once both statistical and systematic uncertainties are taken into account. Depending on the Nuclear Matrix Elements this corresponds to an upper limit on the Majorana effective neutrino mass of $ < 0.3-0.8$ eV (90% C.L.). Constraints on other lepton number violating mechanisms of 0$…