https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-015-3704-2
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
GIOVE: a new detector setup for high sensitivity germanium spectroscopy at shallow depth
1
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
2
Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Via G. Acitelli 22, 67100, Assergi, AQ, Italy
* e-mail: marc.weber@mpi-hd.mpg.de
Received:
12
July
2015
Accepted:
25
September
2015
Published online:
9
November
2015
We report on the development and construction of the high-purity germanium spectrometer setup GIOVE (Germanium Inner Outer VEto), recently built and now operated at the shallow underground laboratory of the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg. Particular attention was paid to the design of a novel passive and active shield, aiming at efficient rejection of environmental and muon induced radiation backgrounds. The achieved sensitivity level of 
100 
Bq kg
for primordial radionuclides from U and Th in typical 
ray sample screening measurements is unique among instruments located at comparably shallow depths and can compete with instruments at far deeper underground sites.
© SIF and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2015
