The LEGEND experiment, now under construction, will operate a large array of Ge detectors for the search of neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{76}$Ge. In this paper we report on the process development for the hydrogen reduction of germanium dioxide enriched in $^{76}$Ge as part of the effort to manufacture detectors for the LEGEND experiment. The process was optimized via a kinetic un-reacted shrinking model and tested with a batch of natural GeO$_2$. We completed the reduction of a batch of 23 kg isotopically enriched Ge with an average yield of 99.85%. Subsequently, the Ge was purified to intrinsic purity by zone-refining and an overall Ge yield of 99.05% was achieved. Using an intermediate underground storage, an average cosmogenic exposure of 156 h was accumulated. Special care was taken to avoid and recycle losses during the process.
The lepton number violating process of neutrinoless double-beta decay could result from the physics beyond the Standard Model needed to generate the neutrino masses. Taking different approaches, the current generation of $^{76}$Ge experiments, the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and GERDA, lead the field in both the ultra-low background and energy resolution achieved. The next generation of neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments requires increased mass and further reduction of backgrounds to maximize discovery potential. Building on the successes of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and GERDA, the LEGEND co…
The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless $ββ$ Decay (LEGEND) is a future ton-scale experimental program that will search for neutrinoless double beta decay ($0νββ$) in the isotope $^{76}$Ge with an unprecedented sensitivity. To achieve the projected discovery sensitivity at a half-life beyond $10^{28}\,$yr after about ten years of data taking, it is of utmost importance to operate in a background-free environment. This can be supported by using highly integrated readout electronics such as application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) technology. In this work we investigated t…
LEGEND (Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay) is a ton-scale experimental program to search for neutrinoless double beta ($0 νββ$) decay using high-purity germanium detectors enriched in the isotope $^{76}$Ge. An observation of $0 νββ$ decay would unequivocally prove the existence of lepton number violation and provide insight into the nature of neutrino masses. On-site construction for the first 200-kg phase (LEGEND-200) of the experiment will start at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory (Laboratory Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy) in mid-2020. In order to …
The time analysis of the signal induced by the drift of charge carriers in high purity germanium detectors provides information on the event topology. Millions of charge carriers are produced in a typical event. Their initial distribution, stochastic diffusion and Coulomb self-repulsion affect the time structure of the signal. We present a comprehensive study of these effects and evaluate their impact on the event discrimination capabilities for the three geometries which will be used in the Legend experiment for neutrinoless double-beta decay.
In the search for a monochromatic peak as the signature of neutrinoless double beta decay an excellent energy resolution and an ultra-low background around the $Q$-value of the decay are essential. The LEGEND-200 experiment performs such a search with high-purity germanium detectors enriched in $^{76}$Ge immersed in liquid argon. To determine and monitor the stability of the energy scale and resolution of the germanium diodes, custom-made, low-neutron emission $^{228}$Th sources are regularly deployed in the vicinity of the crystals. Here we describe the production process of the 17 sources av…
Pulse shape discrimination for $α$ event rejection in BEGe-type high-purity germanium detectors
M. Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University（马泰乌什·斯莫卢霍夫斯基物理研究所，雅盖隆大学）；Jagiellonian University, Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences（雅盖隆大学，精确与自然科学学院博士学校）
The search for neutrinoless double-beta decay is the most sensitive technique to establish the Majorana nature of neutrinos. Two operating experiments that look for such decays in $^{76}$Ge -- GERDA and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR -- have achieved the lowest backgrounds and the best energy resolution in the signal region. These are two of the most important detector characteristics for sensitive searches of this undiscovered decay. The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (LEGEND) Collaboration has formed to pursue a tonne-scale $^{76}$Ge experiment that integra…
Polyethylene Naphthalate (PEN) plastic scintillator has been identified as potential self-vetoing structural material in low-background physics experiments. Scintillating components have been produced radio-pure from PEN using injection compression molding technology. These low-background PEN components will be used as active holders to mount the Germanium detectors in the \legend-$200$ neutrinoless double beta decay experiment. In this paper we present the measurement of the optical properties of these PEN components. Thus, the emission spectrum, time constant, attenuation and bulk absorption…
In the global landscape of neutrinoless double beta ($0νββ$) decay search, the use of semiconductor germanium detectors provides many advantages. The excellent energy resolution, the negligible intrinsic radioactive contamination, the possibility of enriching the crystals up to 88% in the $^{76}$Ge isotope as well as the high detection efficiency, are all key ingredients for highly sensitive $0νββ$ decay search. The MAJORANA and GERDA experiments successfully implemented the use of germanium (Ge) semiconductor detectors, reaching an energy resolution of $2.53 \pm 0.08$ keV at the Q$_{ββ}$ and …
The observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay (0$νββ$) would show that lepton number is violated, reveal that neutrinos are Majorana particles, and provide information on neutrino mass. A discovery-capable experiment covering the inverted ordering region, with effective Majorana neutrino masses of 15 - 50 meV, will require a tonne-scale experiment with excellent energy resolution and extremely low backgrounds, at the level of $\sim$0.1 count /(FWHM$\cdot$t$\cdot$yr) in the region of the signal. The current generation $^{76}$Ge experiments GERDA and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR utilizing high …
CAGE: An Internal Source Scanning Cryostat for HPGe Characterization
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill（北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校）；Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory（三角大学核实验室）；University of Washington（华盛顿大学）；Indiana University（印第安纳大学）
The MAJORANA Collaboration is searching for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the nucleus Ge-76. The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is an array of germanium detectors deployed with the aim of implementing background reduction techniques suitable for a tonne scale Ge-76-based search (the LEGEND collaboration). In the DEMONSTRATOR, germanium detectors operate in an ultra-pure vacuum cryostat at 80 K. One special challenge of an ultra-pure environment is to develop reliable cables, connectors, and electronics that do not significantly contribute to the radioactive background of the experiment. This pa…
Energy Calibration and Performance of HPGe Detectors in the LEGEND-200 Experiment
Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory（三角大学核实验室）；Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik（马克斯·普朗克核物理研究所）；Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma Tre（意大利国家核物理研究所罗马第三分部）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill（北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校物理与天文学系）
Neutrinoless double-$β$ decay of $^{76}$Ge is searched for with germanium detectors where source and detector of the decay are identical. For the success of future experiments it is important to increase the mass of the detectors. We report here on the characterization and testing of five prototype detectors manufactured in inverted coaxial (IC) geometry from material enriched to 88% in $^{76}$Ge. IC detectors combine the large mass of the traditional semi-coaxial Ge detectors with the superior resolution and pulse shape discrimination power of point contact detectors which exhibited so far mu…
