The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR for 0νββ: Current Status and Future Plans

M P Green ,B Shanks,S Macmullin,J Gruszko,N Snyder,A Hegai,K Vorren,J Goett,C Wiseman,J Rager,J Macmullin,M Shirchenko,D Byram,E Romero-Romero,C Cuesta,K Pushkin,E Yakushev,M Boswell,N Abgrall,A Galindo-Uribarri,P Finnerty,T Shima ,D C Combs ,A W P Poon ,Richard T Kouzes ,R Hazama ,E Aguayo ,C O’shaughnessy ,J C Loach ,S R Elliott ,J F Wilkerson ,A L Hallin ,O Kochetov ,B D Laferriere ,R Henning ,V Egorov ,Nicole Overman ,D G Phillips ,S Mertens ,B R White ,F T Avignone ,V Brudanin ,C.‐H Yu ,E W Hoppe ,G K Giovanetti ,K J Keeter ,S Vasilyev ,R D Martin ,A M Suriano ,A Schubert ,M Ronquest ,H Ejiri ,V Timkin ,W Xu ,R G H Robertson ,D C Radford ,M Nomachi ,P J Doe ,K Vetter ,K J Snavely ,A S Barabash ,S J Meijer ,K Rielage ,W Tornow ,J Leon ,R L Varner ,С И Коновалов ,F M Fraenkle ,Y V Efremenko ,J Thompson ,S Howard ,M F Kidd ,F Bertrand ,J A Detwiler ,V E Guiseppe ,K Gusev ,M Busch ,J E Trimble ,J E Fast ,M A Howe ,Y D Chan ,A R Young ,L E Leviner ,C D Christofferson ,A Caldwell ,J L Orrell ,V Yumatov

doi:10.1016/j.phpro.2014.12.038

Abstract

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR will search for neutrinoless-double-beta decay (0νββ) in 76Ge, while establishing the feasibility of a future tonne-scale germanium-based 0νββ experiment, and performing searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model. The experiment, currently under construction at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, SD, will consist of a pair of modular high-purity germanium detector arrays housed inside of a compact copper, lead, and polyethylene shield. Through a combination of strict materials qualifications and assay, low-background design, and powerful background rejection techniques, the Demonstrator aims to achieve a background rate in the 0νββ region of interest (ROI) of no more than 3 counts in the 0νββ-decay ROI per tonne of target isotope per year (cnts/(ROI-t-y)). The current status of the Demonstrator is discussed, as are plans for its completion.

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