Cosmogenic activation in the neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment CUORE

ORAL

Abstract

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) will search for the neutrinoless double-beta (0$\nu \beta \beta )$ decay of $^{130}$Te using an array of 988 high-resolution bolometers. Each bolometer, comprised of a TeO$_{2}$ crystal and a thermal sensor, serves as both a source and a detector. Observation of 0$\nu \beta \beta $ decay requires that all backgrounds be identified and understood. One source of background that is poorly characterized is cosmogenic neutron activation of the TeO$_{2}$ crystals. This process, which produces long-lived radioisotopes that can obscure the 0$\nu \beta \beta $ decay signal, occurs while the crystals are transported by ship from their production site in China to the detector site in Italy. Cross-section measurements in which TeO$_{2}$ targets are irradiated with a spectrum mimicking that of cosmic-ray neutrons were carried out at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. The resulting cross-sections have been used in a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the cosmogenic background that will be present in CUORE.

*Supported by the U.S. Dept of Energy, Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (NA-22), LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344, and a Nuclear Forensics Graduate Fellowship from the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security, DNDO and the U.S. Dept of Defense, DTRA

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Authors

  • Barbara Wang

    • University of California, Berkeley

  • Eric Norman

    • University of California, Berkeley

  • N.D. Scielzo

    • LLNL
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  • A.R. Smith

    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nuclear Science Division
    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    • Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

  • K.J. Thomas

    • UC Berkeley, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
    • University of California, Berkeley
    • Univ. of California at Berkeley