P-type point contact (PPC) HPGe detectors are a leading technology for rare event searches due to their excellent energy resolution, low thresholds, and multi-site event rejection capabilities. We ...have characterized a PPC detector’s response to
α
particles incident on the sensitive passivated and p
+
surfaces, a previously poorly-understood source of background. The detector studied is identical to those in the
Majorana
Demonstrator
experiment, a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (
0
ν
β
β
) in
76
Ge.
α
decays on most of the passivated surface exhibit significant energy loss due to charge trapping, with waveforms exhibiting a delayed charge recovery (DCR) signature caused by the slow collection of a fraction of the trapped charge. The DCR is found to be complementary to existing methods of
α
identification, reliably identifying
α
background events on the passivated surface of the detector. We demonstrate effective rejection of all surface
α
events (to within statistical uncertainty) with a loss of only 0.2% of bulk events by combining the DCR discriminator with previously-used methods. The DCR discriminator has been used to reduce the background rate in the
0
ν
β
β
region of interest window by an order of magnitude in the
Majorana
Demonstrator
and will be used in the upcoming LEGEND-200 experiment.
A large number of current and future experiments in neutrino and dark matter detection use the scintillation light from noble elements as a mechanism for measuring energy deposition. The ...scintillation light from these elements is produced in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range, from 60 to 200
nm. Currently, the most practical technique for observing light at these wavelengths is to surround the scintillation volume with a thin film of tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) to act as a fluor. The TPB film absorbs EUV photons and re-emits visible photons, detectable with a variety of commercial photosensors. Here we present a measurement of the re-emission spectrum of TPB films when illuminated with 128, 160, 175, and 250
nm light. We also measure the fluorescence efficiency as a function of incident wavelength from 120 to 250
nm.
Imperfections in analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) cannot be ignored when signal digitization requirements demand both wide dynamic range and high resolution, as is the case for the Majorana ...Demonstrator 76 Ge neutrinoless double-beta decay search. Enabling the experiment's high-resolution spectral analysis and efficient pulse shape discrimination required careful measurement and correction of ADC nonlinearities. A simple measurement protocol was developed that did not require sophisticated equipment or lengthy data-taking campaigns. A slope-dependent hysteresis was observed and characterized. A correction applied to digitized waveforms prior to signal processing reduced the differential and integral nonlinearities by an order of magnitude, eliminating these as dominant contributions to the systematic energy uncertainty at the double-beta decay <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">Q </tex-math></inline-formula> value.
A search for Pauli-exclusion-principle-violating K
α
electron transitions was performed using 89.5 kg-d of data collected with a p-type point contact high-purity germanium detector operated at the ...Kimballton Underground Research Facility. A lower limit on the transition lifetime of
5.8
×
10
30
s at 90% C.L. was set by looking for a peak at 10.6 keV resulting from the X-ray and Auger electrons present following the transition. A similar analysis was done to look for the decay of atomic K-shell electrons into neutrinos, resulting in a lower limit of
6.8
×
10
30
s at 90% C.L. It is estimated that the
Majorana Demonstrator
, a 44 kg array of p-type point contact detectors that will search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of
76
Ge, could improve upon these exclusion limits by an order of magnitude after three years of operation.
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