Precise characterization of detector time resolution is of crucial importance for next-generation cryogenic-bolometer experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay, such as CUPID, in order ...to reject background due to pile-up of two-neutrino double-beta decay events. In this paper, we describe a technique developed to study the pile-up rejection capability of cryogenic bolometers. Our approach, which consists of producing controlled pile-up events with a programmable waveform generator, has the benefit that we can reliably and reproducibly control the time separation and relative energy of the individual components of the generated pile-up events. The resulting data allow us to optimize and benchmark analysis strategies to discriminate between individual and pile-up pulses. We describe a test of this technique performed with a small array of detectors at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, in Italy; we obtain a 90% rejection efficiency against pulser-generated pile-up events with rise time of ~15 ms down to time separation between the individual events of 2 ms.
Abstract
The CUPID Collaboration is designing a tonne-scale, background-free detector to search for double beta decay with sufficient sensitivity to fully explore the parameter space corresponding to ...the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy scenario. One of the CUPID demonstrators, CUPID-Mo, has proved the potential of enriched Li
$$_{2}$$
2
$$^{100}$$
100
MoO
$$_4$$
4
crystals as suitable detectors for neutrinoless double beta decay search. In this work, we characterised cubic crystals that, compared to the cylindrical crystals used by CUPID-Mo, are more appealing for the construction of tightly packed arrays. We measured an average energy resolution of (
$$6.7\pm 0.6$$
6.7
±
0.6
) keV FWHM in the region of interest, approaching the CUPID target of 5 keV FWHM. We assessed the identification of
$$\alpha $$
α
particles with and without a reflecting foil that enhances the scintillation light collection efficiency, proving that the baseline design of CUPID already ensures a complete suppression of this
$$\alpha $$
α
-induced background contribution. We also used the collected data to validate a Monte Carlo simulation modelling the light collection efficiency, which will enable further optimisations of the detector.
Gender, ethnicity, and lifestyle factors affect bone mass acquisition during childhood, thus the need for age- and sex-adjusted
Z scores using ethnic-specific data for bone mineral density (BMD) ...measurement. This study aimed at establishing normative data for BMD in healthy Lebanese children and adolescents. Three hundred sixty-three healthy children aged 10 to 17 years (mean ± SD: 13.1 ± 2.0) were studied. BMD, bone mineral content (BMC), and lean mass were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) using a Hologic 4500A device, and apparent volumetric BMD (BMAD) of the lumbar spine and the femoral neck were calculated. BMD, BMC, and BMAD were expressed by age groups and Tanner stages for boys and girls separately. There was a significant effect of age and puberty on all bone parameters, except at the femoral neck BMAD in boys. BMC and BMD were higher at cortical sites in boys, including subtotal body and hip; whereas, in girls, it was higher at a site more enriched in trabecular bone, namely the lumbar spine. At several skeletal sites, girls had significantly higher BMD adjusted for lean mass than boys. By the end of puberty, adolescents had a mean BMD that was 43–66% higher at the lumbar spine and 25–41% higher at cortical sites than pre-pubertal children, depending on the gender. Mean BMD values in the study group were significantly lower (
P < 0.01) than Western normative values, with
Z scores ranging between −0.2 and −1.1. In both genders, children of lower socioeconomic status tended to have lower BMD than those from a higher socioeconomic background.
This study allows additional insight into gender dimorphism in mineral accretion during puberty. It also provides a valuable reference database for the assessment of BMD in children with pubertal or growth disorders who are of Middle Eastern origin.
Abstract
The CROSS experiment is proposing to use a new technology of surface sensitive bolometers for low-background neutrinoless double beta decay searches. Efficient rejection of surface
α
and
β
...events will allow to reach background in the region of interest below than 10
−4
cnts/keV/kg/yr. The isotopes of interest, which are
130
Te and
100
Mo, are investigated with TeO
2
and Li
2
MoO
4
bolometers. The surface sensitivity is achieved thanks to the evaporation of thin metallic film on the crystal surface that modifies the pulse shape of near-surface events. An investigation of various pulse shape parameters was performed. The analysis shows that one of the best parameters for discrimination is the integrated area of the raw signal both for TeO
2
and Li
2
MoO
4
with Pd-Al (10 nm - 100 nm) bi-layer.
We report CUPID is a next-generation tonne-scale bolometric neutrinoless double beta decay experiment that will probe the Majorana nature of neutrinos and discover lepton number violation in case of ...observation of this singular process. CUPID will be built on experience, expertise and lessons learned in CUORE and will be installed in the current CUORE infra-structure in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. The CUPID detector technology, successfully tested in the CUPID-Mo experiment, is based on scintillating bolometers of Li2MoO4 enriched in the isotope of interest 100Mo. In order to achieve its ambitious science goals, the CUPID collaboration aims to reduce the backgrounds in the region of interest by a factor 100 with respect to CUORE. This performance will be achieved by introducing the high efficient α/β discrimination demonstrated by the CUPID-0 and CUPID-Mo experiments, and using a high transition energy double beta decay nucleus such as 100Mo to minimize the impact of the gamma background. CUPID will consist of about 1500 hybrid heat-light detectors for a total isotope mass of 250 kg. The CUPID scientific reach is supported by a detailed and safe background model based on CUORE, CUPID-Mo and CUPID-0 results. The required performances have already been demonstrated and will be presented.
Abstract
We report the measurement of the two-neutrino double-beta (
$$2\nu \beta \beta $$
2
ν
β
β
) decay of
$$^{100}$$
100
Mo to the ground state of
$$^{100}$$
100
Ru using lithium molybdate (
...$$\hbox {Li}_2^{\;\;100}\hbox {MoO}_4$$
Li
2
100
MoO
4
) scintillating bolometers. The detectors were developed for the CUPID-Mo program and operated at the EDELWEISS-III low background facility in the Modane underground laboratory (France). From a total exposure of 42.235 kg
$$\times $$
×
day, the half-life of
$$^{100}$$
100
Mo is determined to be
$$T_{1/2}^{2\nu }=7.12^{+0.18}_{-0.14}\,\mathrm {(stat.)}\pm 0.10\,\mathrm {(syst.)}\times 10^{18}$$
T
1
/
2
2
ν
=
7
.
12
-
0.14
+
0.18
(
stat
.
)
±
0.10
(
syst
.
)
×
10
18
years. This is the most accurate determination of the
$$2\nu \beta \beta $$
2
ν
β
β
half-life of
$$^{100}$$
100
Mo to date.
Abstract We report the measurement of the two-neutrino double-beta ($$2\nu \beta \beta $$ 2νββ ) decay of $$^{100}$$ 100 Mo to the ground state of $$^{100}$$ 100 Ru using lithium molybdate ($$\hbox ...{Li}_2^{\;\;100}\hbox {MoO}_4$$ Li2100MoO4 ) scintillating bolometers. The detectors were developed for the CUPID-Mo program and operated at the EDELWEISS-III low background facility in the Modane underground laboratory (France). From a total exposure of 42.235 kg$$\times $$ × day, the half-life of $$^{100}$$ 100 Mo is determined to be $$T_{1/2}^{2\nu }=7.12^{+0.18}_{-0.14}\,\mathrm {(stat.)}\pm 0.10\,\mathrm {(syst.)}\times 10^{18}$$ T1/22ν=7.12-0.14+0.18(stat.)±0.10(syst.)×1018 years. This is the most accurate determination of the $$2\nu \beta \beta $$ 2νββ half-life of $$^{100}$$ 100 Mo to date.
Abstract
In the past few years, attention has been drawn to the fact that a precision analysis of two-neutrino double beta decay (2
υββ
) allows the study of interesting physics cases like the ...emission of Majoron bosons and possible Lorentz symmetry violation. These processes modify the summed-energy distribution of the two electrons emitted in 2
υββ
. CUPID is a next-generation experiment aiming to exploit
100
Mo-enriched scintillating Li
2
MoO
4
crystals, operating as cryogenic calorimeters. Given the relatively fast half-life of
100
Mo 2
υββ
and the large exposure that can be reached by CUPID, we expect to measure with very high precision the
100
Mo 2
υββ
spectrum shape, reaching great sensitivities in the search for distortions induced by the physics beyond the Standard Model. In this contribution, we present the CUPID exclusion sensitivity for such New Physics processes, as well as the preliminary projected background of CUPID.
Abstract Random coincidences of events could be one of the main sources of background in the search for neutrino-less double-beta decay of $$^{100}$$ 100 Mo with macro-bolometers, due to their modest ...time resolution. Scintillating bolometers as those based on Li $$_2$$ 2 MoO $$_4$$ 4 crystals and employed in the CROSS and CUPID experiments can eventually exploit the coincident fast signal detected in a light detector to reduce this background. However, the scintillation provides a modest signal-to-noise ratio, making difficult a pile-up pulse-shape recognition and rejection at timescales shorter than a few ms. Neganov–Trofimov–Luke assisted light detectors (NTL-LDs) offer the possibility to effectively increase the signal-to-noise ratio, preserving a fast time-response, and enhance the capability of pile-up rejection via pulse shape analysis. In this article we present: (a) an experimental work performed with a Li $$_2$$ 2 MoO $$_4$$ 4 scintillating bolometer, studied in the framework of the CROSS experiment, and utilizing a NTL-LD; (b) a simulation method to reproduce, synthetically, randomly coincident two-neutrino double-beta decay events; (c) a new analysis method based on a pulse-shape discrimination algorithm capable of providing high pile-up rejection efficiencies. We finally show how the NTL-LDs offer a balanced solution between performance and complexity to reach background index $$\sim $$ ∼ $$10^{-4}$$ 10 - 4 counts/keV/kg/year with 280 g Li $$_2$$ 2 MoO $$_4$$ 4 ( $$^{100}$$ 100 Mo enriched) bolometers at 3034 keV, the Q $$_{\beta \beta }$$ β β of the double-beta decay, and target the goal of a next generation experiment like CUPID.
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