Related papers: The nEXO Radioassay Program
We present the results of a study of lightly doped amorphous silicon used as a resistive medium for high-radiopurity resistors in nuclear and particle physics research instrumentation. Prototypes are produced for a Time Projection Chamber…
Rapid discovery and synthesis of new materials requires intelligent data acquisition strategies to navigate large design spaces. A popular strategy is Bayesian optimization, which aims to find candidates that maximize material properties;…
The discovery that neutrinos have finite rest mass has led to renewed interest in neutrinoless double beta decay. The development of large-scale experiments to search for neutrinoless double beta decay has increased the probability of a…
The selection of low-radioactive construction materials is of utmost importance for the success of low-energy rare event search experiments. Besides radioactive contaminants in the bulk, the emanation of radioactive radon atoms from…
nEXO is a proposed experiment that will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0$\nu\beta\beta$) in 5-tonnes of liquid xenon (LXe), isotopically enriched in $^{136}$Xe. A technique called Ba-tagging is being developed as a potential…
Tremendous efforts are required to scale the summit of observing neutrinoless double beta decay ($0 \nu \beta \beta$). This article quantitatively explores the interplay between exposure (target mass X data taking time) and background…
We study a possible calibration technique for the nEXO experiment using a $^{127}$Xe electron capture source. nEXO is a next-generation search for neutrinoless double beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) that will use a 5-tonne, monolithic liquid…
We review probes of heavy sterile neutrinos, focusing on direct experimental searches and neutrinoless double beta decay. Working in a phenomenological parametrization, we emphasize the importance of the nature of sterile neutrinos in…
This article is intended for physics educators and students at school and undergraduate level. It is used at our department to introduce students to simulation and offer a guide in using statistics in physics. The simulation code was…
The T-REX project aims at developing novel readout techniques for Time Projection Chambers in experiments searching for rare events. The enhanced performance of the latest Micromegas readouts in issues like energy resolution, gain…
When searching for novel inorganic materials, limiting the combination of constituent elements can greatly improve the search efficiency. In this study, we used machine learning to predict elemental combinations with high reactivity for…
Low counting experiments (search for double $\beta$ decay and dark matter particles, measurements of neutrino fluxes from different sources, search for hypothetical nuclear and subnuclear processes, low background $\alpha$, $\beta$,…
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.…
We evaluate the discovery probability of a combined analysis of proposed neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments in a scenario with normal ordered neutrino masses. The discovery probability strongly depends on the value of the lightest…
The possibility to observe the neutrino-less double $ \beta $ decay and thus to prove the Majorana nature of neutrino as well as provide a sensitive measure of its mass is a major challenge of to-day's neutrino physics. As an attractive…
We evaluate the cosmogenic production rates in some materials that are commonly used as targets and shielding/supporting components for detecting rare events. The results from Geant4 simulations are compared with the calculations of ACTIVIA…
The background induced by radioactive impurities of $^{208}\rm Tl$ and $^{214}\rm Bi$ in the source of the double beta experiment NEMO-3 has been investigated. New methods of data analysis which decrease the background from the above…
The nuclear matrix elements that govern the rate of neutrinoless double beta decay must be accurately calculated if experiments are to reach their full potential. Theorists have been working on the problem for a long time but have recently…
Micromesh Gas Structures (Micromegas) as readout of gaseous Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) are being considered in experiments investigating rare phenomena, like the nuclear double beta decay, solar axion detection and low-mass dark matter…
We describe a system to transport and identify barium ions produced in liquid xenon, as part of R&D towards the second phase of a double beta decay experiment, nEXO. The goal is to identify the Ba ion resulting from an extremely rare…