Related papers: Radiation shielding for underground low-background…
The next generation low-background detectors operating underground aim for unprecedented low levels of radioactive backgrounds. Although the radioactive decays of airborne radon (particularly Rn-222) and its subsequent progeny present in an…
In this article we explore the availability of radiopure tungsten and its potential as high density shield material for low background applications. For compact shield designs, conventionally, lead is used. Metallic tungsten and tungsten…
This document presents the physics case and ancillary studies for the proposed CODEX-b long-lived particle (LLP) detector, as well as for a smaller proof-of-concept demonstrator detector, CODEX-$\beta$, to be operated during Run 3 of the…
Exploring the dynamical response of mechanical metamaterials has gathered increasing attention in the last decades, enabling the design of microstructures exotically interacting with elastic waves (focusing, channeling, band-gaps, negative…
Space radiation poses a significant challenge for long duration human space missions, with sources including Galactic Cosmic Rays, Solar Particle Events, and trapped particles in the Van Allen belts. These high-energy radiations cause…
Planning for the next generation of light-shining-through-wall experiments has started. It is therefore timely to investigate possible ways to optimize their setups. The goals are to improve the sensitivity towards smaller couplings and…
The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT), intended to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay using a high-pressure xenon gas TPC filled with Xe enriched in 136Xe at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain, requires…
We present and implement a design for an automated system that fabricates multilayer photonic crystal structures. The device is constructed with low-cost materials. A polystyrene/cellulose acetate multilayer Bragg reflector was fabricated…
The previous article about material screening for GERDA points out the importance of strict material screening and selection for radioimpurities as a key to meet the aspired background levels of the GERDA experiment. This is directly done…
Novel photoelectrocatalysts that use sunlight to power the CO$_2$ reduction reaction will be crucial for carbon-neutral power and energy-efficient industrial processes. Scalable photoelectrocatalysts must satisfy a stringent set of…
Optimal multi-layer device design requires consideration of fabrication uncertainties associated with inter-layer alignment and conformal layering. We present layer-restricted topology optimization (TO), a novel technique which mitigates…
It is important to identify and reduce the gamma radiation which can be a significant source of background for any double beta decay experiment. The TIN.TIN detector array, which is under development for the search of Neutrinoless Double…
Underground laboratories provide the low radioactive background environment necessary to explore the highest energy scales that cannot be reached with accelerators, by searching for extremely rare phenomena. I have requested to the…
Modern experiments aiming at tests of fundamental physics, like measuring gravitational waves or testing Lorentz Invariance with unprecedented accuracy, require thermal environments that are highly stable over long times. To achieve such a…
A relatively simple and accurate analytical model for studying the reflectivity of neutron multilayer monochromators and supermirrors is proposed. Design conditions that must be fulfilled in order to reach the maximum reflectivity are…
Geo-Synchronous orbits are appealing for Solar or astrophysical observatories because they permit continuous data downlink at high rates. The radiation environment in these orbits presents unique challenges, however. This paper describes…
This Letter of Intent has been submitted to the Scientific Committee of the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in March 2004. It describes a novel facility at the LNGS to study the double beta decay of 76Ge using an (optionally…
An important issue for rare-event-search experiments, such as the search for dark matter or neutrinoless double beta decay, is to reduce radioactivity of the detector materials and the experimental environment. The selection of materials…
During the last taking data campaigns of the CAST experiment, the micromegas detectors have achieved background levels of $\approx 5 \times 10^{-6}$keV$^{-1}$cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ between 2 and 9 keV. This performance has been possible thanks…
In the double beta decay experiment NEMO~3 a precise knowledge of the background in the signal region is of outstanding importance. This article presents the methods used in NEMO~3 to evaluate the backgrounds resulting from most if not all…