A
bstract
Neutrinoless double-beta decay is a key process in particle physics. Its experimental investigation is the only viable method that can establish the Majorana nature of neutrinos, providing ...at the same time a sensitive inclusive test of lepton number violation. CROSS (Cryogenic Rare-event Observatory with Surface Sensitivity) aims at developing and testing a new bolometric technology to be applied to future large-scale experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay of the promising nuclei
100
Mo and
130
Te. The limiting factor in large-scale bolometric searches for this rare process is the background induced by surface radioactive contamination, as shown by the results of the CUORE experiment. The basic concept of CROSS consists of rejecting this challenging background component by pulse-shape discrimination, assisted by a proper coating of the faces of the crystal containing the isotope of interest and serving as energy absorber of the bolometric detector. In this paper, we demonstrate that ultra-pure superconductive Al films deposited on the crystal surfaces act successfully as pulse-shape modifiers, both with fast and slow phonon sensors. Rejection factors higher than 99.9% of
α
surface radioactivity have been demonstrated in a series of prototypes based on crystals of Li
2
MoO
4
and TeO
2
. We have also shown that point-like energy depositions can be identified up to a distance of
∼
1 mm from the coated surface. The present program envisions an intermediate experiment to be installed underground in the Canfranc laboratory (Spain) in a CROSS-dedicated facility. This experiment, comprising
∼
3
×
10
25
nuclei of
100
Mo, will be a general test of the CROSS technology as well as a worldwide competitive search for neutrinoless double-beta decay, with sensitivity to the effective Majorana mass down to 70 meV in the most favorable conditions.
We present the first Ge-based constraints on sub-MeV /c2 dark matter (DM) particles interacting with electrons using a 33.4 g Ge cryogenic detector with a 0.53 electron-hole pair (rms) resolution, ...operated underground at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane. Competitive constraints are set on the DM-electron scattering cross section, as well as on the kinetic mixing parameter of dark photons down to 1 eV / c2. In particular, the most stringent limits are set for dark photon DM in the 6 to 9 eV / c2 range. These results demonstrate the high relevance of Ge cryogenic detectors for the search of DM-induced eV-scale electron signals.
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We review the physics potential of a next generation search for solar axions: the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) . Endowed with a sensitivity to discover axion-like particles (ALPs) with a ...coupling to photons as small as gaγ∼10−12 GeV−1, or to electrons gae∼10−13, IAXO has the potential to find the QCD axion in the 1 meV∼1 eV mass range where it solves the strong CP problem, can account for the cold dark matter of the Universe and be responsible for the anomalous cooling observed in a number of stellar systems. At the same time, IAXO will have enough sensitivity to detect lower mass axions invoked to explain: 1) the origin of the anomalous “transparency” of the Universe to gamma-rays, 2) the observed soft X-ray excess from galaxy clusters or 3) some inflationary models. In addition, we review string theory axions with parameters accessible by IAXO and discuss their potential role in cosmology as Dark Matter and Dark Radiation as well as their connections to the above mentioned conundrums.
The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of
130
Te with an array of 988 TeO
2
bolometers operating at temperatures ...around 10 mK. The experiment is currently being commissioned in Hall A of Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. The goal of CUORE is to reach a 90% C.L. exclusion sensitivity on the
130
Te decay half-life of 9
×
10
25
years after 5 years of data taking. The main issue to be addressed to accomplish this aim is the rate of background events in the region of interest, which must not be higher than 10
-
2
counts/keV/kg/year. We developed a detailed Monte Carlo simulation, based on results from a campaign of material screening, radioassays, and bolometric measurements, to evaluate the expected background. This was used over the years to guide the construction strategies of the experiment and we use it here to project a background model for CUORE. In this paper we report the results of our study and our expectations for the background rate in the energy region where the peak signature of neutrinoless double beta decay of
130
Te is expected.
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Background model of the CUPID-0 experiment Azzolini, O.; Beeman, J. W.; Bellini, F. ...
European physical journal. C, Particles and fields,
07/2019, Volume:
79, Issue:
7
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
CUPID-0 is the first large mass array of enriched Zn
82
Se scintillating low temperature calorimeters, operated at LNGS since 2017. During its first scientific runs, CUPID-0 collected an exposure of ...9.95 kg year. Thanks to the excellent rejection of
α
particles, we attained the lowest background ever measured with thermal detectors in the energy region where we search for the signature of
82
Se
neutrinoless double beta decay. In this work we develop a model to reconstruct the CUPID-0 background over the whole energy range of experimental data. We identify the background sources exploiting their distinctive signatures and we assess their extremely low contribution down to
∼
10
-
4
counts/(keV kg year) in the region of interest for
82
Se
neutrinoless double beta decay search. This result represents a crucial step towards the comprehension of the background in experiments based on scintillating calorimeters and in next generation projects such as CUPID.
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CUPID-Mo is a bolometric experiment to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (
0
ν
β
β
) of
100
Mo
. In this article, we detail the CUPID-Mo detector concept, assembly and installation in the ...Modane underground laboratory, providing results from the first datasets. The CUPID-Mo detector consists of an array of 20
100
Mo
-enriched 0.2 kg
Li
2
MoO
4
crystals operated as scintillating bolometers at
∼
20
mK
. The
Li
2
MoO
4
crystals are complemented by 20 thin Ge optical bolometers to reject
α
events by the simultaneous detection of heat and scintillation light. We observe a good detector uniformity and an excellent energy resolution of 5.3 keV (6.5 keV) FWHM at 2615 keV, in calibration (physics) data. Light collection ensures the rejection of
α
particles at a level much higher than 99.9% – with equally high acceptance for
γ
/
β
events – in the region of interest for
100
Mo
0
ν
β
β
. We present limits on the crystals’ radiopurity:
≤
3
μ
Bq/kg
of
226
Ra
and
≤
2
μ
Bq/kg
of
232
Th
. We discuss the science reach of CUPID-Mo, which can set the most stringent half-life limit on the
100
Mo
0
ν
β
β
decay in half-a-year’s livetime. The achieved results show that CUPID-Mo is a successful demonstrator of the technology developed by the LUMINEU project and subsequently selected for the CUPID experiment, a proposed follow-up of CUORE, the currently running first tonne-scale bolometric
0
ν
β
β
experiment.
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We report on a dark matter search for a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) in the mass range
m
χ
∈
4
,
30
GeV
/
c
2
with the EDELWEISS-III experiment. A 2D profile likelihood analysis is ...performed on data from eight selected detectors with the lowest energy thresholds leading to a combined fiducial exposure of 496 kg-days. External backgrounds from
γ
- and
β
-radiation, recoils from
206
Pb
and neutrons as well as detector intrinsic backgrounds were modelled from data outside the region of interest and constrained in the analysis. The basic data selection and most of the background models are the same as those used in a previously published analysis based on boosted decision trees (BDT)
1
. For the likelihood approach applied in the analysis presented here, a larger signal efficiency and a subtraction of the expected background lead to a higher sensitivity, especially for the lowest WIMP masses probed. No statistically significant signal was found and upper limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section can be set with a hypothesis test based on the profile likelihood test statistics. The 90 % C.L. exclusion limit set for WIMPs with
m
χ
=
4
GeV
/
c
2
is
1.6
×
10
-
39
cm
2
, which is an improvement of a factor of seven with respect to the BDT-based analysis. For WIMP masses above
15
GeV
/
c
2
the exclusion limits found with both analyses are in good agreement.
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We make use of the EDELWEISS-III array of germanium bolometers to search for electron interactions at the keV scale induced by phenomena beyond the Standard Model. A 90% C.L. lower limit is set on ...the electron lifetime decaying to invisibles, ?>1.2×1024 years. We investigate the emission of axions or axionlike particles (ALPs) by the Sun, constraining the coupling parameters gae<1.1×10?11 and gae×gaNeff<3.5×10?17 at 90% C.L. in the massless limit. We also directly search for the absorption of bosonic dark matter particles that would constitute our local galactic halo. Limits are placed on the couplings of ALPs or hidden photon dark matter in the mass range 0.8–500 keV/c2. Prospects for searching for dark matter particles with masses down to 150 eV/c2 using improved detectors are presented.
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Rare-event search experiments located on-surface, such as short-baseline reactor neutrino experiments, are often limited by muon-induced background events. Highly efficient muon vetos are essential ...to reduce the detector background and to reach the sensitivity goals. We demonstrate the feasibility of deploying organic plastic scintillators at sub-Kelvin temperatures. For the NUCLEUS experiment, we developed a cryogenic muon veto equipped with wavelength shifting fibers and a silicon photo multiplier operating inside a dilution refrigerator. The achievable compactness of cryostat-internal integration is a key factor in keeping the muon rate to a minimum while maximizing coverage. The thermal and light output properties of a plastic scintillation detector were examined. We report first data on the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the polystyrene-based scintillator UPS-923A over a wide range of temperatures extending below one Kelvin. The light output was measured down to 0.8 K and observed to increase by a factor of 1.61 ± 0.05 compared to 300 K. The development of an organic plastic scintillation muon veto operating in sub-Kelvin temperature environments opens new perspectives for rare-event searches with cryogenic detectors at sites lacking substantial overburden.
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We present the noise performance of high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) developed by CNRS/C2N laboratory. Various HEMT’s gate geometries with 2 pF to 230 pF input capacitance have been studied ...at 4 K. A model for both voltage and current noises has been developed with frequency dependence up to 1 MHz. These HEMTs exhibit low dissipation, excellent noise performance and can advantageously replace traditional Si-JFETs for the readout of high impedance thermal sensor and semiconductor ionization cryogenic detectors. Our model predicts that cryogenic germanium detectors of 30 g with 10 eV heat and 20 eV
ee
baseline resolution are feasible if read out by HEMT-based amplifiers. Such resolution allows for high discrimination between nuclear and electron recoils at low threshold. This capability is of major interest for coherent elastic neutrino scattering and low-mass dark matter experiments such as Ricochet and EDELWEISS.
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