Related papers: Aluminum as a source of background in low backgrou…
A standard high purity germanium (HPGe) detector was used to determine the previously unknown neutron activity of a weak americium-beryllium (AmBe) neutron source. Gamma rays were created through 27Al(n,n'), 27Al(n,gamma) and 1H(n,gamma)…
The GERDA experiment searches for neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay in $^{76}$Ge using an array of high purity germanium (HPGe) detectors immersed in liquid argon (LAr). Phase II of the experiment uses 30 new broad energy…
The MAJORANA collaboration is pursuing the development of the so-called MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR. The DEMONSTRATOR is intended to perform research and development towards a tonne-scale germanium-based experiment to search for the neutrinoless…
Thermal detectors have recently achieved a leading position in the fields of neutrinoless double beta decay and dark matter searches thanks to excellent energy resolution and numerous absorber material choices. These detectors operate at…
In the last two decades the search for neutrinoless double beta decay has evolved into one of the highest priorities for understanding neutrinos and the origin of mass. The main reason for this paradigm shift has been the discovery of…
Neutrinoless double beta decay searches play a major role in determining neutrino properties, in particular the Majorana or Dirac nature of the neutrino and the absolute scale of the neutrino mass. The consequences of these searches go…
High-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors used for low-background gamma ray spectrometry are usually operated under either a fairly low overburden of the order of one meter of water equivalent (mw.e.) or a high overburden of the order of…
The LEGEND collaboration is searching for neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay by operating high-purity germanium detectors enriched in $^{76}$Ge in a low-background liquid argon environment. Building on key technological…
A study on cosmogenic activation in germanium was carried out to evaluate the cosmogenic background level of natural and $^{70}$Ge depleted germanium detectors. The production rates of long-lived radionuclides were calculated with Geant4…
The LEGEND Experiment searches for the neutrinoless double beta (0$\nu\beta\beta$) decay of $^{76}$Ge employing active high purity germanium detectors enriched in $^{76}$Ge beyond 86%. LEGEND's experimental program is articulated in two…
A new type of radiation detector, a p-type modified electrode germanium diode, is presented. The prototype displays, for the first time, a combination of features (mass, energy threshold and background expectation) required for a…
Low-energy background through Compton scattering from the ambient $\gamma$ rays can be contaminated in direct dark matter search experiments. In this paper, we report comparable measurements on low-energy spectra via Compton scattering from…
The recent results from the HEIDELBERG-MOSCOW experiment have demonstrated the large potential of double beta decay to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. To increase by a major step the present sensitivity for double beta…
Production of $^{60}$Co and $^{68}$Ge from stable isotopes of Germanium by nuclear active component of cosmic rays is a principal background source for a new generation of $^{76}$Ge double beta decay experiments like GERDA and Majorana. The…
We point out that the Pauli blocking of neutrinos by cosmological relic neutrinos can be a significant effect. For zero-energy neutrinos, the standard parameters for the neutrino background temperature and density give a suppression of…
The study of neutrinoless double-beta decay plays a fundamental role in the understanding of neutrino physics. Its observation would prove that neutrinos are Majorana particles and that lepton number is not conserved. Experimental searches…
Study of the neutrinoless double beta decay and searches for the manifestation of the neutrino mass in ordinary beta decay are the main sources of information about the absolute neutrino mass scale, and the only practical source of…
The GERmanium Detector Array, GERDA, will search for neutrinoless double beta decay in 76Ge at the National Gran Sasso Laboratory of the INFN. Bare high-purity germanium detectors enriched in 76Ge will be submerged in liquid argon serving…
Events from alpha interactions on the surfaces of germanium detectors are a major contribution to the background in germanium-based searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Surface events are subject to charge trapping, affecting their…
Geoneutrinos can provide a unique insight into Earth's interior, its central engine and its formation history. We study the detection of geoneutrinos in large direct detection experiments, which has been considered non-feasible. We compute…