Production, characterization and operation of Ge enriched BEGe detectors in GERDA

M. Agostini; M. Allardt; E. Andreotti; A. M. Bakalyarov; M. Balata; I. Barabanov; N. Barros; L. Baudis; C. Bauer; N. Becerici-Schmidt; E. Bellotti; S. Belogurov; S. T. Belyaev; G. Benato; A. Bettini; L. Bezrukov; T. Bode; D. Borowicz; V. Brudanin; R. Brugnera; D. Budjáš; A. Caldwell; C. Cattadori; A. Chernogorov; V. D’Andrea; E. V. Demidova; A. Domula; V. Egorov; R. Falkenstein; K. Freund; N. Frodyma; A. Gangapshev; A. Garfagnini; C. Gotti; P. Grabmayr; V. Gurentsov; K. Gusev; A. Hegai; M. Heisel; S. Hemmer; G. Heusser; W. Hofmann; M. Hult; L. V. Inzhechik; L. Ioannucci; J. Janicskó Csáthy; J. Jochum; M. Junker; V. Kazalov; T. Kihm; I. V. Kirpichnikov; A. Kirsch; A. Klimenko; K. T. Knöpfle; O. Kochetov; V. N. Kornoukhov; V. V. Kuzminov; M. Laubenstein; A. Lazzaro; V. I. Lebedev; B. Lehnert; H. Y. Liao; M. Lindner; I. Lippi; A. Lubashevskiy; B. Lubsandorzhiev; G. Lutter; C. Macolino; B. Majorovits; W. Maneschg; M. Misiaszek; I. Nemchenok; S. Nisi; C. O’Shaughnessy; D. Palioselitis; L. Pandola; K. Pelczar; G. Pessina; A. Pullia; S. Riboldi; N. Rumyantseva; C. Sada; M. Salathe; C. Schmitt; J. Schreiner; O. Schulz; A. -K. Schütz; B. Schwingenheuer; S. Schönert; E. Shevchik; M. Shirchenko; H. Simgen; A. Smolnikov; L. Stanco; H. Strecker; C. A. Ur; L. Vanhoefer; A. A. Vasenko; K. von Sturm; V. Wagner; M. Walter; A. Wegmann; T. Wester; H. Wilsenach; M. Wojcik; E. Yanovich; P. Zavarise; I. Zhitnikov; S. V. Zhukov; D. Zinatulina; K. Zuber; G. Zuzel

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-3253-0

2024 Impact factor 4.8

Particles and Fields

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. C (2015) 75: 39
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-3253-0

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Production, characterization and operation of $^{76}$ Ge enriched BEGe detectors in GERDA

GERDA Collaboration

M. Agostini¹⁴, M. Allardt³, E. Andreotti⁵^,17, A. M. Bakalyarov¹², M. Balata¹, I. Barabanov¹⁰, N. Barros³, L. Baudis¹⁸, C. Bauer⁶, N. Becerici-Schmidt¹³, E. Bellotti⁷^,8, S. Belogurov¹⁰^,11, S. T. Belyaev¹², G. Benato¹⁸, A. Bettini¹⁵^,16, L. Bezrukov¹⁰, T. Bode¹⁴, D. Borowicz²^,4, V. Brudanin⁴, R. Brugnera¹⁵^,16, D. Budjáš¹⁴, A. Caldwell¹³, C. Cattadori⁸, A. Chernogorov¹¹, V. D’Andrea¹, E. V. Demidova¹¹, A. Domula³, V. Egorov⁴, R. Falkenstein¹⁷, K. Freund¹⁷, N. Frodyma², A. Gangapshev⁶^,10, A. Garfagnini¹⁵^,16, C. Gotti⁸, P. Grabmayr¹⁷^*, V. Gurentsov¹⁰, K. Gusev⁴^,12^,14, A. Hegai¹⁷, M. Heisel⁶, S. Hemmer¹⁵^,16, G. Heusser⁶, W. Hofmann⁶, M. Hult⁵, L. V. Inzhechik¹⁰, L. Ioannucci¹, J. Janicskó Csáthy¹⁴, J. Jochum¹⁷, M. Junker¹, V. Kazalov¹⁰, T. Kihm⁶, I. V. Kirpichnikov¹¹, A. Kirsch⁶, A. Klimenko⁴^,6, K. T. Knöpfle⁶, O. Kochetov⁴, V. N. Kornoukhov¹⁰^,11, V. V. Kuzminov¹⁰, M. Laubenstein¹, A. Lazzaro¹⁴, V. I. Lebedev¹², B. Lehnert³, H. Y. Liao¹³, M. Lindner⁶, I. Lippi¹⁶, A. Lubashevskiy⁴^,6, B. Lubsandorzhiev¹⁰, G. Lutter⁵, C. Macolino¹, B. Majorovits¹³, W. Maneschg⁶, M. Misiaszek², I. Nemchenok⁴, S. Nisi¹, C. O’Shaughnessy¹³, D. Palioselitis¹³, L. Pandola¹⁹, K. Pelczar², G. Pessina⁷^,8, A. Pullia⁹, S. Riboldi⁹, N. Rumyantseva⁴, C. Sada¹⁵^,16, M. Salathe⁶, C. Schmitt¹⁷, J. Schreiner⁶, O. Schulz¹³, A. -K. Schütz¹⁷, B. Schwingenheuer⁶, S. Schönert¹⁴, E. Shevchik⁴, M. Shirchenko⁴^,12, H. Simgen⁶, A. Smolnikov⁶, L. Stanco¹⁶, H. Strecker⁶, C. A. Ur¹⁶, L. Vanhoefer¹³, A. A. Vasenko¹¹, K. von Sturm¹⁵^,16, V. Wagner⁶, M. Walter¹⁸, A. Wegmann⁶, T. Wester³, H. Wilsenach³, M. Wojcik², E. Yanovich¹⁰, P. Zavarise¹, I. Zhitnikov⁴, S. V. Zhukov¹², D. Zinatulina⁴, K. Zuber³ and G. Zuzel²

¹ INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and Gran Sasso Science Institute, Assergi, Italy
² Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
³ Institut für Kern- und Teilchenphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
⁴ Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia
⁵ Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Geel, Belgium
⁶ Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany
⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
⁸ INFN Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano e INFN Milano, Milan, Italy
¹⁰ Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
¹¹ Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow, Russia
¹² National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, Moscow, Russia
¹³ Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Munich, Germany
¹⁴ Physik Department and Excellence Cluster Universe, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
¹⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell‘Università di Padova, Padua, Italy
¹⁶ INFN Padova, Padua, Italy
¹⁷ Physikalisches Institut, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
¹⁸ Physik Institut der Universität Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
¹⁹ INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy

^* e-mail: gerda-eb@mpi-hd.mpg.de

Received: 3 October 2014
Accepted: 29 December 2014
Published online: 3 February 2015

Abstract

The GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory (LNGS) searches for the neutrinoless double beta decay ( $0\nu \beta \beta$ ) of $^{76}$ Ge. Germanium detectors made of material with an enriched $^{76}$ Ge fraction act simultaneously as sources and detectors for this decay. During Phase I of theexperiment mainly refurbished semi-coaxial Ge detectors from former experiments were used. For the upcoming Phase II, 30 new $^{76}$ Ge enriched detectors of broad energy germanium (BEGe)-type were produced. A subgroup of these detectors has already been deployed in Gerda during Phase I. The present paper reviews the complete production chain of these BEGe detectors including isotopic enrichment, purification, crystal growth and diode production. The efforts in optimizing the mass yield and in minimizing the exposure of the $^{76}$ Ge enriched germanium to cosmic radiation during processing are described. Furthermore, characterization measurements in vacuum cryostats of the first subgroup of seven BEGe detectors and their long-term behavior in liquid argon are discussed. The detector performance fulfills the requirements needed for the physics goals of Gerda Phase II.