0000000000962941
AUTHOR
M. Laubenstein
Final results of Borexino Phase-I on low-energy solar neutrino spectroscopy
Borexino has been running since May 2007 at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy with the primary goal of detecting solar neutrinos. The detector, a large, unsegmented liquid scintillator calorimeter characterized by unprecedented low levels of intrinsic radioactivity, is optimized for the study of the lower energy part of the spectrum. During Phase-I (2007–2010), Borexino first detected and then precisely measured the flux of the Be 7 solar neutrinos, ruled out any significant day-night asymmetry of their interaction rate, made the first direct observation of the pep neutrinos, and set the tightest upper limit on the flux of solar neutrinos produced in the CNO cycle …
Search for doubleβdecay of106Cd by using isotopically enriched106CdWO4crystal scintillator
A search for double ? processes in 106Cd was carried out at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN, Italy; by using a CdWC4 crystal scintillator (mass of 215 g) enriched in 106Cd up to 66%. After 6590 h of data taking, half-life limits on double beta processes in 106Cd were set at level of 1019 ? 1021 yr. A possible resonant enhancement of the 0?2? processes has also been estimated in the framework of the QRPA approach.
Material screening and selection for XENON100
Results of the extensive radioactivity screening campaign to identify materials for the construction of XENON100 are reported. This Dark Matter search experiment is operated underground at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy. Several ultra sensitive High Purity Germanium detectors (HPGe) have been used for gamma ray spectrometry. Mass spectrometry has been applied for a few low mass plastic samples. Detailed tables with the radioactive contaminations of all screened samples are presented, together with the implications for XENON100.
Search for double-\beta decay of \{106}Cd by using isotopically enriched \{106}CdWO_{4} crystal scintillator
A search for double β processes in 106Cd was carried out at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN (Italy) by using a CdWO4 crystal scintillator (mass of 215 g) enriched in 106Cd up to 66%. After 6590 h of data taking, half-life limits on double beta processes in 106Cd were set at level of 1019 −1021 yr. A possible resonant enhancement of the 0ν2ε processes has also been estimated in the framework of the QRPA approach. peerReviewed
Improved measurement of $^8$B solar neutrinos with $1.5 kt·y$ of Borexino exposure
We report on an improved measurement of the $^8$B solar neutrino interaction rate with the Borexino experiment at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. Neutrinos are detected via their elastic scattering on electrons in a large volume of liquid scintillator. The measured rate of scattered electrons above 3 MeV of energy is $0.223\substack{+0.015 \\ -0.016}\,(stat)\,\substack{+0.006 \\ -0.006}\,(syst)$ cpd/100 t, which corresponds to an observed solar neutrino flux assuming no neutrino flavor conversion of $\Phi\substack{\rm ES \\ ^8\rm B}=2.57\substack{+0.17 \\ -0.18}(stat)\substack{+0.07\\ -0.07}(syst)\times$10$^6$ cm$^{-2}\,$s$^{-1}$. This measurement exploits the active volume of the …
Material radioassay and selection for the XENON1T dark matter experiment
The XENON1T dark matter experiment aims to detect weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) through low-energy interactions with xenon atoms. To detect such a rare event necessitates the use of radiopure materials to minimize the number of background events within the expected WIMP signal region. In this paper we report the results of an extensive material radioassay campaign for the XENON1T experiment. Using gamma-ray spectroscopy and mass spectrometry techniques, systematic measurements of trace radioactive impurities in over one hundred samples within a wide range of materials were performed. The measured activities allowed for stringent selection and placement of materials during the…
Simultaneous precision spectroscopy of pp, Be7, and pep solar neutrinos with Borexino Phase-II
We present the simultaneous measurement of the interaction rates Rpp, RBe, Rpep of pp, Be7, and pep solar neutrinos performed with a global fit to the Borexino data in an extended energy range (0.19–2.93) MeV with particular attention to details of the analysis methods. This result was obtained by analyzing 1291.51 days of Borexino Phase-II data, collected after an extensive scintillator purification campaign. Using counts per day (cpd)/100 ton as unit, we find Rpp=134±10(stat)−10+6(sys), RBe=48.3±1.1(stat)−0.7+0.4(sys); and RpepHZ=2.43±0.36(stat)−0.22+0.15(sys) assuming the interaction rate RCNO of CNO-cycle (Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxigen) solar neutrinos according to the prediction of the high…
Search for 2-beta decays of 96^Ru and 104^Ru by ultralow-background HPGe gamma spectrometry at LNGS: Final Results
An experiment to search for double-β decay processes in 96Ru and 104Ru, which are accompanied by γ rays, has been realized in the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the I.N.F.N. (Italy). Ruthenium samples with masses of ≈0.5–0.7 kg were measured with the help of ultralow-background high-purity Ge γ -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 2β+/εβ+/2ε processes in 96Ru have been established on the level of 1020 yr, in particular for decays to the ground state of 96Mo: T 2ν2β+ 1/2 1.4 × 1020 yr, T 2νεβ+ 1/2…
Search for double-\beta decay processes in \{106}Cd with the help of a \{106}CdWO_{4} crystal scintillator
A search for double β processes in 106Cd was carried out at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN (Italy) with the help of a 106CdWO4 crystal scintillator (215 g) enriched in 106Cd up to 66%. After 6590 h of data taking, new improved half-life limits on the double β decay processes in 106Cd were established at the level of 1019–1021 yr; in particular, T 2νεβ+ 1/2 2.1 × 1020 yr, T 2ν2β+ 1/2 4.3 × 1020 yr, and T 0ν2ε 1/2 1.0 × 1021 yr. The resonant neutrinoless double-electron captures to the 2718-, 2741-, and 2748-keV excited states of 106Pd are restricted to T 0ν2K 1/2 4.3 × 1020 yr, T 0νKL1 1/2 9.5 × 1020 yr, and T 0νKL3 1/2 4.3 × 1020 yr, respectively (all limits at 90% confide…