Abstract
The Majorana Demonstrator searched for neutrinoless double-β decay (0νββ) of Ge76 using modular arrays of high-purity Ge detectors operated in vacuum cryostats in a low-background shield. The arrays operated with up to 40.4 kg of detectors (27.2 kg enriched to ∼88% in Ge76). From these measurements, the Demonstrator has accumulated 64.5 kg yr of enriched active exposure. With a world-leading energy resolution of 2.52 keV FWHM at the 2039 keV Qββ (0.12%), we set a half-life limit of 0νββ in Ge76 at T1/2>8.3×1025 yr (90% C.L.). This provides a range of upper limits on mββ of (113-269) meV (90% C.L.), depending on the choice of nuclear matrix elements.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 062501 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 130 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 10 2023 |
Funding
The authors appreciate the technical assistance of S. Adair, J. F. Amsbaugh, J. Bell, T. H. Burritt, G. Capps, K. Carney, J. Cox, R. Daniels, L. DeBraeckeleer, C. Dunagan, G. C. Harper, C. Havener, G. Holman, R. Hughes, K. Jeskie, K. Lagergren, D. Lee, O. Loken, M. Middlebook, A. Montoya, A. W. Myers, D. Peterson, D. Reid, L. Rodriguez, H. Salazar, A. R. Smith, G. Swift, J. Thompson, P. Thompson, M. Turqueti, C. Tysor, T. D. Van Wechel, R. Varland, T. Williams, R. Witharm, and H. Yaver. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under Contracts or Awards No. DE-AC02-05CH11231, No. DE-AC05-00OR22725, No. DE-AC05-76RL0130, No. DE-FG02-97ER41020, No. DE-FG02-97ER41033, No. DE-FG02-97ER41041, No. DE-SC0012612, No. DE-SC0014445, No. DE-SC0018060, No. DE-SC0022339, and No. LANLEM77/LANLEM78. We acknowledge support from the Particle Astrophysics Program and Nuclear Physics Program of the National Science Foundation through Grants No. MRI-0923142, No. PHY-1003399, No. PHY-1102292, No. PHY-1206314, No. PHY-1614611, No. PHY-1812409, No. PHY-1812356, No. PHY-2111140, and No. PHY-2209530. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for this work. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy through the Los Alamos National Laboratory LDRD Program, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory LDRD Program, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory LDRD Program for this work. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the South Dakota Board of Regents Competitive Research Grant. We acknowledge the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, funding reference number SAPIN-2017-00023, and from the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund. This research used resources provided by the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility. We thank our hosts and colleagues at the Sanford Underground Research Facility for their support.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund | |
| National Science Foundation | PHY-1003399, PHY-1812409, PHY-1206314, PHY-1614611, PHY-1102292, PHY-2209530, PHY-1812356, MRI-0923142, PHY-2111140 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Office of Science | |
| Nuclear Physics | DE-AC05-00OR22725, DE-AC05-76RL0130, DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-SC0012612, DE-FG02-97ER41020, DE-FG02-97ER41033, DE-SC0022339, LANLEM77/LANLEM78, DE-FG02-97ER41041, DE-SC0018060, DE-SC0014445 |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| Laboratory Directed Research and Development | |
| South Dakota Board of Regents | |
| Los Alamos National Laboratory | |
| Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | |
| National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center | |
| Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | SAPIN-2017-00023 |