The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment

N. Abgrall; I. J. Arnquist; F. T. Avignone; A. S. Barabash; F. E. Bertrand; A. W. Bradley; V. Brudanin; M. Busch; M. Buuck; J. Caja; M. Caja; T. S. Caldwell; C. D. Christofferson; P. H. Chu; C. Cuesta; J. A. Detwiler; C. Dunagan; D. T. Dunstan; Yu Efremenko; H. Ejiri; S. R. Elliott; T. Gilliss; G. K. Giovanetti; J. Goett; M. P. Green; J. Gruszko; I. S. Guinn; V. E. Guiseppe; C. R.S. Haufe; R. Henning; E. W. Hoppe; B. R. Jasinski; M. F. Kidd; S. I. Konovalov; R. T. Kouzes; A. M. Lopez; J. MacMullin; R. D. Martin; R. Massarczyk; S. J. Meijer; S. Mertens; J. H. Meyer; J. Myslik; C. O'Shaughnessy; A. W.P. Poon; D. C. Radford; J. Rager; A. L. Reine; J. A. Reising; K. Rielage; R. G.H. Robertson; B. Shanks; M. Shirchenko; A. M. Suriano; D. Tedeschi; L. M. Toth; J. E. Trimble; R. L. Varner; S. Vasilyev; K. Vetter; K. Vorren; B. R. White; J. F. Wilkerson; C. Wiseman; W. Xu; E. Yakushev; C. H. Yu; V. Yumatov; I. Zhitnikov; B. X. Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036

The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment

N. Abgrall, I. J. Arnquist, F. T. Avignone, A. S. Barabash, F. E. Bertrand, A. W. Bradley, V. Brudanin, M. Busch, M. Buuck, J. Caja, M. Caja, T. S. Caldwell, C. D. Christofferson, P. H. Chu, C. Cuesta, J. A. Detwiler, C. Dunagan, D. T. Dunstan, Yu Efremenko, H. EjiriS. R. Elliott, T. Gilliss, G. K. Giovanetti, J. Goett, M. P. Green, J. Gruszko, I. S. Guinn, V. E. Guiseppe, C. R.S. Haufe, R. Henning, E. W. Hoppe, B. R. Jasinski, M. F. Kidd, S. I. Konovalov, R. T. Kouzes, A. M. Lopez, J. MacMullin, R. D. Martin, R. Massarczyk, S. J. Meijer, S. Mertens, J. H. Meyer, J. Myslik, C. O'Shaughnessy, A. W.P. Poon, D. C. Radford, J. Rager, A. L. Reine, J. A. Reising, K. Rielage, R. G.H. Robertson, B. Shanks, M. Shirchenko, A. M. Suriano, D. Tedeschi, L. M. Toth, J. E. Trimble, R. L. Varner, S. Vasilyev, K. Vetter, K. Vorren, B. R. White, J. F. Wilkerson, C. Wiseman, W. Xu, E. Yakushev, C. H. Yu, V. Yumatov, I. Zhitnikov, B. X. Zhu

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is an array of point-contact Ge detectors fabricated from Ge isotopically enriched to 88% in ⁷⁶Ge to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The processing of Ge for germanium detectors is a well-known technology. However, because of the high cost of Ge enriched in ⁷⁶Ge special procedures were required to maximize the yield of detector mass and to minimize exposure to cosmic rays. These procedures include careful accounting for the material; shielding it to reduce cosmogenic generation of radioactive isotopes; and development of special reprocessing techniques for contaminated solid germanium, shavings, grindings, acid etchant and cutting fluids from detector fabrication. Processing procedures were developed that resulted in a total yield in detector mass of 70%. However, none of the acid-etch solution and only 50% of the cutting fluids from detector fabrication were reprocessed. Had they been processed, the projections for the recovery yield would be between 80% and 85%. Maximizing yield is critical to justify a possible future ton-scale experiment. A process for recovery of germanium from the acid-etch solution was developed with yield of about 90%. All material was shielded or stored underground whenever possible to minimize the formation of ⁶⁸Ge by cosmic rays, which contributes background in the double-beta decay region of interest and cannot be removed by zone refinement and crystal growth. Formation of ⁶⁸Ge was reduced by a significant factor over that in natural abundance detectors not protected from cosmic rays.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	314-322
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	877
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036
State	Published - Jan 1 2018

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, the Office of Nuclear Physics under Award Numbers DEAC02-05CH11231 , DE-AC52-06NA25396 , DE-FG02-97ER41041 , DE-FG02-97ER41033 , DE-FG02-97ER41041 , DE-FG02-97ER41042 , DE-SC0012612 , DE-FG02-10ER41715 , DE-SC0010254 , and DE-FG02-97ER41020 . We acknowledge support from the Particle Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Programs of the National Science Foundation through grant numbers PHY-0919270 , PHY-1003940 , PHY-0855314 , PHY-1202950 , MRI 0923142 , PHY-1307204 and PHY-1003399 . We acknowledge support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research , grant No. 15-02-02919 . We acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy through the LANL/LDRD Program.

Funders	Funder number
National Science Foundation	PHY-1003399, PHY-1003940, PHY-1307204, PHY-0919270, MRI 0923142, PHY-1202950, PHY-0855314
U.S. Department of Energy
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences	0855314, 0923142, 1003940, 0919270, 1003399, 1307204, 1202950
Office of Science
Nuclear Physics	DE-SC0012612, DE-AC52-06NA25396, DE-FG02-97ER41020, DE-FG02-97ER41042, DE-FG02-10ER41715, DEAC02-05CH11231, DE-FG02-97ER41033, DE-FG02-97ER41041, DE-SC0010254
Laboratory Directed Research and Development
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Russian Foundation for Basic Research	15-02-02919

Keywords

Double-beta decay
Instrumentation
Neutrino physics

Access to Document

10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036

Cite this

Abgrall, N., Arnquist, I. J., Avignone, F. T., Barabash, A. S., Bertrand, F. E., Bradley, A. W., Brudanin, V., Busch, M., Buuck, M., Caja, J., Caja, M., Caldwell, T. S., Christofferson, C. D., Chu, P. H., Cuesta, C., Detwiler, J. A., Dunagan, C., Dunstan, D. T., Efremenko, Y., ... Zhu, B. X. (2018). The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 877, 314-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036

@article{62500ba5aaab4c07b6058d40155eec9d,

title = "The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment",

abstract = "The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is an array of point-contact Ge detectors fabricated from Ge isotopically enriched to 88% in 76Ge to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The processing of Ge for germanium detectors is a well-known technology. However, because of the high cost of Ge enriched in 76Ge special procedures were required to maximize the yield of detector mass and to minimize exposure to cosmic rays. These procedures include careful accounting for the material; shielding it to reduce cosmogenic generation of radioactive isotopes; and development of special reprocessing techniques for contaminated solid germanium, shavings, grindings, acid etchant and cutting fluids from detector fabrication. Processing procedures were developed that resulted in a total yield in detector mass of 70%. However, none of the acid-etch solution and only 50% of the cutting fluids from detector fabrication were reprocessed. Had they been processed, the projections for the recovery yield would be between 80% and 85%. Maximizing yield is critical to justify a possible future ton-scale experiment. A process for recovery of germanium from the acid-etch solution was developed with yield of about 90%. All material was shielded or stored underground whenever possible to minimize the formation of 68Ge by cosmic rays, which contributes background in the double-beta decay region of interest and cannot be removed by zone refinement and crystal growth. Formation of 68Ge was reduced by a significant factor over that in natural abundance detectors not protected from cosmic rays.",

keywords = "Double-beta decay, Instrumentation, Neutrino physics",

author = "N. Abgrall and Arnquist, {I. J.} and Avignone, {F. T.} and Barabash, {A. S.} and Bertrand, {F. E.} and Bradley, {A. W.} and V. Brudanin and M. Busch and M. Buuck and J. Caja and M. Caja and Caldwell, {T. S.} and Christofferson, {C. D.} and Chu, {P. H.} and C. Cuesta and Detwiler, {J. A.} and C. Dunagan and Dunstan, {D. T.} and Yu Efremenko and H. Ejiri and Elliott, {S. R.} and T. Gilliss and Giovanetti, {G. K.} and J. Goett and Green, {M. P.} and J. Gruszko and Guinn, {I. S.} and Guiseppe, {V. E.} and Haufe, {C. R.S.} and R. Henning and Hoppe, {E. W.} and Jasinski, {B. R.} and Kidd, {M. F.} and Konovalov, {S. I.} and Kouzes, {R. T.} and Lopez, {A. M.} and J. MacMullin and Martin, {R. D.} and R. Massarczyk and Meijer, {S. J.} and S. Mertens and Meyer, {J. H.} and J. Myslik and C. O'Shaughnessy and Poon, {A. W.P.} and Radford, {D. C.} and J. Rager and Reine, {A. L.} and Reising, {J. A.} and K. Rielage and Robertson, {R. G.H.} and B. Shanks and M. Shirchenko and Suriano, {A. M.} and D. Tedeschi and Toth, {L. M.} and Trimble, {J. E.} and Varner, {R. L.} and S. Vasilyev and K. Vetter and K. Vorren and White, {B. R.} and Wilkerson, {J. F.} and C. Wiseman and W. Xu and E. Yakushev and Yu, {C. H.} and V. Yumatov and I. Zhitnikov and Zhu, {B. X.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 The Authors",

year = "2018",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036",

language = "English",

volume = "877",

pages = "314--322",

journal = "Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment",

issn = "0168-9002",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

Abgrall, N, Arnquist, IJ, Avignone, FT, Barabash, AS, Bertrand, FE, Bradley, AW, Brudanin, V, Busch, M, Buuck, M, Caja, J, Caja, M, Caldwell, TS, Christofferson, CD, Chu, PH, Cuesta, C, Detwiler, JA, Dunagan, C, Dunstan, DT, Efremenko, Y, Ejiri, H, Elliott, SR, Gilliss, T, Giovanetti, GK, Goett, J, Green, MP, Gruszko, J, Guinn, IS, Guiseppe, VE, Haufe, CRS, Henning, R, Hoppe, EW, Jasinski, BR, Kidd, MF, Konovalov, SI, Kouzes, RT, Lopez, AM, MacMullin, J, Martin, RD, Massarczyk, R, Meijer, SJ, Mertens, S, Meyer, JH, Myslik, J, O'Shaughnessy, C, Poon, AWP, Radford, DC, Rager, J, Reine, AL, Reising, JA, Rielage, K, Robertson, RGH, Shanks, B, Shirchenko, M, Suriano, AM, Tedeschi, D, Toth, LM, Trimble, JE, Varner, RL, Vasilyev, S, Vetter, K, Vorren, K, White, BR, Wilkerson, JF, Wiseman, C, Xu, W, Yakushev, E, Yu, CH, Yumatov, V, Zhitnikov, I & Zhu, BX 2018, 'The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 877, pp. 314-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036

The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment. / Abgrall, N.; Arnquist, I. J.; Avignone, F. T. et al.
In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 877, 01.01.2018, p. 314-322.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment

AU - Abgrall, N.

AU - Arnquist, I. J.

AU - Avignone, F. T.

AU - Barabash, A. S.

AU - Bertrand, F. E.

AU - Bradley, A. W.

AU - Brudanin, V.

AU - Busch, M.

AU - Buuck, M.

AU - Caja, J.

AU - Caja, M.

AU - Caldwell, T. S.

AU - Christofferson, C. D.

AU - Chu, P. H.

AU - Cuesta, C.

AU - Detwiler, J. A.

AU - Dunagan, C.

AU - Dunstan, D. T.

AU - Efremenko, Yu

AU - Ejiri, H.

AU - Elliott, S. R.

AU - Gilliss, T.

AU - Giovanetti, G. K.

AU - Goett, J.

AU - Green, M. P.

AU - Gruszko, J.

AU - Guinn, I. S.

AU - Guiseppe, V. E.

AU - Haufe, C. R.S.

AU - Henning, R.

AU - Hoppe, E. W.

AU - Jasinski, B. R.

AU - Kidd, M. F.

AU - Konovalov, S. I.

AU - Kouzes, R. T.

AU - Lopez, A. M.

AU - MacMullin, J.

AU - Martin, R. D.

AU - Massarczyk, R.

AU - Meijer, S. J.

AU - Mertens, S.

AU - Meyer, J. H.

AU - Myslik, J.

AU - O'Shaughnessy, C.

AU - Poon, A. W.P.

AU - Radford, D. C.

AU - Rager, J.

AU - Reine, A. L.

AU - Reising, J. A.

AU - Rielage, K.

AU - Robertson, R. G.H.

AU - Shanks, B.

AU - Shirchenko, M.

AU - Suriano, A. M.

AU - Tedeschi, D.

AU - Toth, L. M.

AU - Trimble, J. E.

AU - Varner, R. L.

AU - Vasilyev, S.

AU - Vetter, K.

AU - Vorren, K.

AU - White, B. R.

AU - Wilkerson, J. F.

AU - Wiseman, C.

AU - Xu, W.

AU - Yakushev, E.

AU - Yu, C. H.

AU - Yumatov, V.

AU - Zhitnikov, I.

AU - Zhu, B. X.

PY - 2018/1/1

Y1 - 2018/1/1

N2 - The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is an array of point-contact Ge detectors fabricated from Ge isotopically enriched to 88% in 76Ge to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The processing of Ge for germanium detectors is a well-known technology. However, because of the high cost of Ge enriched in 76Ge special procedures were required to maximize the yield of detector mass and to minimize exposure to cosmic rays. These procedures include careful accounting for the material; shielding it to reduce cosmogenic generation of radioactive isotopes; and development of special reprocessing techniques for contaminated solid germanium, shavings, grindings, acid etchant and cutting fluids from detector fabrication. Processing procedures were developed that resulted in a total yield in detector mass of 70%. However, none of the acid-etch solution and only 50% of the cutting fluids from detector fabrication were reprocessed. Had they been processed, the projections for the recovery yield would be between 80% and 85%. Maximizing yield is critical to justify a possible future ton-scale experiment. A process for recovery of germanium from the acid-etch solution was developed with yield of about 90%. All material was shielded or stored underground whenever possible to minimize the formation of 68Ge by cosmic rays, which contributes background in the double-beta decay region of interest and cannot be removed by zone refinement and crystal growth. Formation of 68Ge was reduced by a significant factor over that in natural abundance detectors not protected from cosmic rays.

AB - The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is an array of point-contact Ge detectors fabricated from Ge isotopically enriched to 88% in 76Ge to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. The processing of Ge for germanium detectors is a well-known technology. However, because of the high cost of Ge enriched in 76Ge special procedures were required to maximize the yield of detector mass and to minimize exposure to cosmic rays. These procedures include careful accounting for the material; shielding it to reduce cosmogenic generation of radioactive isotopes; and development of special reprocessing techniques for contaminated solid germanium, shavings, grindings, acid etchant and cutting fluids from detector fabrication. Processing procedures were developed that resulted in a total yield in detector mass of 70%. However, none of the acid-etch solution and only 50% of the cutting fluids from detector fabrication were reprocessed. Had they been processed, the projections for the recovery yield would be between 80% and 85%. Maximizing yield is critical to justify a possible future ton-scale experiment. A process for recovery of germanium from the acid-etch solution was developed with yield of about 90%. All material was shielded or stored underground whenever possible to minimize the formation of 68Ge by cosmic rays, which contributes background in the double-beta decay region of interest and cannot be removed by zone refinement and crystal growth. Formation of 68Ge was reduced by a significant factor over that in natural abundance detectors not protected from cosmic rays.

KW - Double-beta decay

KW - Instrumentation

KW - Neutrino physics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032856100&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036

DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85032856100

SN - 0168-9002

VL - 877

SP - 314

EP - 322

JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

ER -

Abgrall N, Arnquist IJ, Avignone FT, Barabash AS, Bertrand FE, Bradley AW et al. The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2018 Jan 1;877:314-322. doi: 10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.036

The processing of enriched germanium for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and R&D for a next generation double-beta decay experiment

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this