The CUORICINO and CUORE double beta decay experiments
Year: 2006
Authors: Ardito R., Arnaboldi C., Artusa D.R., Avignone III F.T., Balata M., Bandac I., Barucci M., Beeman J.W., Bellini F., Brofferio C., Bucci C., Capelli S., Capozzi F., Carbone L., Cebrian S., Clemenza M., Cosmelli C., Cremonesi O., Creswick R.J., Dafinei I., de Waard A., Diemoz M., Dolinski M., Farach H.A., Ferroni F., Fiorini E., Freedman S.J.F., Frossati G., Gargiulo C., Giuliani A., Gorla P., Guardincerri E., Gutierrez T.D., Haller E.E., Heeger K.M., Irastorza I.G., Longo E., Maruyama R., Morganti S., Nisi S., Nones C., Norman E.B., Nucciotti A., Xu N., Olivieri E., Ottonello P., Pallavicini M., Palmieri E., Pavan M., Pedretti M., Pessina G., Pirro S., Previtali E., Risegari L., Rosenfeld C., Sangiorgio S., Sisti M., Smith A.R., Torres L., Ventura G., Zanotti L.
Autors Affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica dell\’Universitą di Milano-Bicocca, Sezione di Milano dell\’INFN, Milan, I-20126, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, United States; Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, I-67010 Assergi, L\’Aquila, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica dell\’Universitą di Firenze, Sezione di Firenze dell\’INFN, Firenze, I-50125, Italy; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States; Laboratorio de Fisica Nuclear y Alta Energias, Universitad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; Department of Material Science and Enginering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States; Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Fisiche e Matematiche dell\’Universitą dell\’Insubria, Sezione di Milano dell\’INFN, Como, I-22100, Italy; Kamerling Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, 2300 RAQ, Leiden, Netherlands; Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, I-35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy; Lawrence Livermore National Laboraotory, Livermore, CA 94550, United States; Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, I-20133, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica dell\’Universitą di Genova, Sezione di Genova dell\’INFN, Genova, I-16146, Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica dell\’Universitą di Roma1, Sezione di Roma1 dell\’INFN, Roma, I-00185, Italy
Abstract: After an introduction on the various experimental techniques to be adopted in searches for double beta decay, the new approach based on the use of cryogenic low temperature detectors is described. The present results are reported on the limit for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te obtained with the large bolometric detector CUORICINO. This setup consists of 44 cubic crystals of natural TeO2 with 5 cm sides and 18 crystals of 3×3×6 cm3. Four of these latter crystals are made with isotopically enriched materials: two in 128Te and two others in 130Te. With a sensitive mass of 40.7 kg, this array is by far the most massive running cryogenic detector. The array is operated at a temperature of ~10 mK in a dilution refrigerator under a heavy shield in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory at a depth of about 3500 m.w.e. The counting rate in the region of neutrinoless double beta decay is 0.18±0.02 counts keV -1 kg-1 y-1, among the lowest in this type of experiment. No evidence for neutrinoless double beta decay is found. The corresponding lower limit for the lifetime of this process is 2×1024 years at 90% C.L. The resultant upper limit on the effective neutrino mass ranges between 0.2 and 1.0 eV, depending on the theoretically calculated nuclear matrix elements. This constraint is the most restrictive one, except for those obtained with Ge diodes, and is comparable to them. The second part of this report is devoted to the present status of the construction of the larger experiment CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) formed from 988 bolometers with a cubic TeO2 absorber of size 5×5×5 cm3, with a total mass of ~750 kg. We present technical details of the CUORE setup as well as of its location and our efforts to reduce radioactive backgrounds.
Journal/Review: PROGRESS IN PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Volume: 57 (1) Pages from: 203 to: 216
More Information: DE-AC03-76 SF000 98. National Science Foundation, NSF. FMRX-CT98-03167. – Gorla and Torres were CEE fellows in the Network on Cryodetectors, under contract HPRN-CT-2002-00322. This experiment has been partly supported by the Commission of European Communities under contracts FMRX-CT98-03167 and HPRN-CT-2002-00322, by the U.S. Dept. of Energy under Contract number DE-AC03-76 SF000 98, and by the National Science Foundation.KeyWords: Cryogenics; Crystal structure; Electron beams; Isotopes; Neutrons; Radioactive elements; Thermal effects, Dilution refrigerator; Double beta decay; Neutrino mass, Radiation detectorsDOI: 10.1016/j.ppnp.2005.11.030ImpactFactor: 3.989Citations: 8data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2024-11-10References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)Connecting to view paper tab on IsiWeb: Click hereConnecting to view citations from IsiWeb: Click here
