Low-level γ-ray spectrometry at the underground laboratory Garching

M. V. Sivers; M. Hofmann; T. Mannel; F. V. Feilitzsch; L. Oberauer; W. Potzel; S. Schor̈nert

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.05.010

Low-level γ-ray spectrometry at the underground laboratory Garching

M. V. Sivers, M. Hofmann, T. Mannel, F. V. Feilitzsch, L. Oberauer, W. Potzel, S. Schor̈nert

Associate Professorship of Experimental Physics and Astroparticle Physics

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

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Two low-background setups for material screening based on HPGe detectors were built in the Garching Underground Laboratory with an overburden of ~10. m.w.e. They include several layers of passive shielding as well as an active muon veto. The first setup (GEM) comprises a 150% efficiency HPGe detector which can optionally be surrounded by a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector that serves as anti-Compton veto. The second setup (LoAx) consists of two smaller HPGe detectors which are arranged face-to-face to cover a larger solid angle around the sample and to allow coincidence measurements. For a 5.6kg piece of copper after 11 days of measurement we have reached a sensitivity for ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra/²²⁸Th of ~5mBqkg^-1 with the GEM setup. In the LoAx setup we have achieved limits of less than 100mBqkg^-1 for ²³⁴Th and ²¹⁰Pb with a 156g sample of PPO wavelength shifter after 18 days of measurement.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	49-56
Number of pages	8
Journal	Applied Radiation and Isotopes
Volume	91
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.05.010
State	Published - Sep 2014

Keywords

HPGe detectors
Low-level gamma-ray spectrometry
Underground laboratory

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10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.05.010

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title = "Low-level γ-ray spectrometry at the underground laboratory Garching",

abstract = "Two low-background setups for material screening based on HPGe detectors were built in the Garching Underground Laboratory with an overburden of ~10. m.w.e. They include several layers of passive shielding as well as an active muon veto. The first setup (GEM) comprises a 150% efficiency HPGe detector which can optionally be surrounded by a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector that serves as anti-Compton veto. The second setup (LoAx) consists of two smaller HPGe detectors which are arranged face-to-face to cover a larger solid angle around the sample and to allow coincidence measurements. For a 5.6kg piece of copper after 11 days of measurement we have reached a sensitivity for 226Ra and 228Ra/228Th of ~5mBqkg-1 with the GEM setup. In the LoAx setup we have achieved limits of less than 100mBqkg-1 for 234Th and 210Pb with a 156g sample of PPO wavelength shifter after 18 days of measurement.",

keywords = "HPGe detectors, Low-level gamma-ray spectrometry, Underground laboratory",

author = "Sivers, {M. V.} and M. Hofmann and T. Mannel and Feilitzsch, {F. V.} and L. Oberauer and W. Potzel and S. Scho{\"r}nert",

note = "Funding Information: This work has been supported by funds of the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratorium (Garching) , the DFG cluster of excellence {"}Origin and Structure of the Universe{"} and the DFG Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio TRR 27/2 “Neutrinos and Beyond ”. ",

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doi = "10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.05.010",

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AU - Hofmann, M.

AU - Mannel, T.

AU - Feilitzsch, F. V.

AU - Oberauer, L.

AU - Potzel, W.

AU - Schor̈nert, S.

N1 - Funding Information: This work has been supported by funds of the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratorium (Garching) , the DFG cluster of excellence "Origin and Structure of the Universe" and the DFG Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio TRR 27/2 “Neutrinos and Beyond ”.

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Low-level γ-ray spectrometry at the underground laboratory Garching

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Keywords

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