The GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) experiment located at the INFN Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy), is looking for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 76Ge, by using high-purity germanium detectors made from isotopically enriched material. The combination of the novel experimental design, the careful material selection for radio-purity and the active/passive shielding techniques result in a very low residual background at the Q-value of the decay, about 10-3 cts/(keV-kg-yr). This makes GERDA the first experiment in the field to be background-free for the complete design exposure of 100 kg-yr. A search for neutrinoless double beta decay was performed with a total exposure of 46.7 kg-yr: 23.2 kg-yr come from the second phase (Phase II) of the experiment, in which the background is reduced by about a factor of ten with respect to the previous phase. The analysis presented in this paper includes 12.4 kg-yr of new Phase II data. No evidence for a possible signal is found: The lower limit for the half-life of 76Ge is 8.0 • 1025 yr at 90% CL. The experimental median sensitivity is 5.8 • 1025 yr. The experiment is currently taking data. As it is running in a background-free regime, its sensitivity grows linearly with exposure and it is expected to surpass 1026 yr within 2018.

Searching for neutrinoless double beta decay with GERDA

D'Andrea V.;Di Marco N.;Macolino C.;Salamida F.;
2020-01-01

Abstract

The GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) experiment located at the INFN Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy), is looking for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 76Ge, by using high-purity germanium detectors made from isotopically enriched material. The combination of the novel experimental design, the careful material selection for radio-purity and the active/passive shielding techniques result in a very low residual background at the Q-value of the decay, about 10-3 cts/(keV-kg-yr). This makes GERDA the first experiment in the field to be background-free for the complete design exposure of 100 kg-yr. A search for neutrinoless double beta decay was performed with a total exposure of 46.7 kg-yr: 23.2 kg-yr come from the second phase (Phase II) of the experiment, in which the background is reduced by about a factor of ten with respect to the previous phase. The analysis presented in this paper includes 12.4 kg-yr of new Phase II data. No evidence for a possible signal is found: The lower limit for the half-life of 76Ge is 8.0 • 1025 yr at 90% CL. The experimental median sensitivity is 5.8 • 1025 yr. The experiment is currently taking data. As it is running in a background-free regime, its sensitivity grows linearly with exposure and it is expected to surpass 1026 yr within 2018.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11697/153447
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