학술논문

The MAJORANA Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay Experiment
Document Type
Conference
Source
2008 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, 2008. NSS '08. IEEE. :1793-1798 Oct, 2008
Subject
Nuclear Engineering
Power, Energy and Industry Applications
Fields, Waves and Electromagnetics
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics and Plasmas
Signal Processing and Analysis
Bioengineering
Physics
Detectors
Laboratories
Nuclear and plasma sciences
Collaboration
Neutrino sources
Prototypes
Capacitive sensors
Assembly
Sensor arrays
Language
ISSN
1082-3654
Abstract
Neutrinoless double-beta decay searches play a major role in determining the nature of neutrinos, the existence of a lepton violating process, and the effective Majorana neutrino mass. The MAJORANA Collaboration proposes to assemble an array of HPGe detectors to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76 Ge. Our proposed method uses the well-established technique of searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in high purity Ge-diode radiation detectors that play both roles of source and detector. The technique is augmented with recent improvements in signal processing and detector design, and advances in controlling intrinsic and external backgrounds. Initially, MAJORANA aims to construct a prototype module containing 60 kg of Ge detectors to demonstrate the potential of a future 1-tonne experiment. The design and potential reach of this prototype Demonstrator module will be presented. This paper will also discuss detector optimization and low-background requirements, such as material purity, background rejection, and identification of rare backgrounds required to reach the sensitivity goals of the MAJORANA experiment.