First results from the AMoRE-Pilot neutrinoless double beta decay experiment

V. Alenkov; H. W. Bae; J. Beyer; R. S. Boiko; K. Boonin; O. Buzanov; N. Chanthima; M. K. Cheoun; D. M. Chernyak; J. S. Choe; S. Choi; F. A. Danevich; M. Djamal; D. Drung; C. Enss; A. Fleischmann; A. M. Gangapshev; L. Gastaldo; Yu. M. Gavriljuk; A. M. Gezhaev; V. D. Grigoryeva; V. I. Gurentsov; O. Gylova; C. Ha; D. H. Ha; E. J. Ha; I. S. Hahn; C. H. Jang; E. J. Jeon; J. A. Jeon; H. S. Jo; J. Kaewkhao; C. S. Kang; S. J. Kang; W. G. Kang; V. V. Kazalov; S. Kempf; A. Khan; S. Khan; D. Y. Kim; G. W. Kim; H. B. Kim; H. J. Kim; H. L. Kim; H. S. Kim; I. Kim; S. C. Kim; S. G. Kim; S. K. Kim; S. R. Kim; W. T. Kim; Y. D. Kim; Y. H. Kim; K. Kirdsiri; Y. J. Ko; V. V. Kobychev; V. Kornoukhov; V. V. Kuzminov; D. H. Kwon; C. Lee; E. K. Lee; H. J. Lee; H. S. Lee; J. S. Lee; J. Y. Lee; K. B. Lee; M. H. Lee; M. K. Lee; S. W. Lee; S. W. Lee; S. H. Lee; D. Leonard; J. Li; J. Li; Y. Li; P. Limkitjaroenporn; E. P. Makarov; S. Y. Oh; Y. M. Oh; S. L. Olsen; A. Pabitra; S. I. Panasenko; I. Pandey; C. W. Park; H. K. Park; H. S. Park; K. S. Park; S. Y. Park; D. V. Poda; O. G. Polischuk; H. Prihtiadi; S. J. Ra; S. S. Ratkevich; G. Rooh; M. B. Sari; K. M. Seo; J. W. Shin; K. A. Shin; V. N. Shlegel; K. Siyeon; J. H. So; J. K. Son; N. Srisittipokakun; K. Sujita; V. I. Tretyak; R. Wirawan; K. R. Woo; Y. S. Yoon; Q. Yue; S. U. Zaman

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7279-1

2023 Impact factor 4.2

Particles and Fields

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. C (2019) 79: 791
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7279-1

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

First results from the AMoRE-Pilot neutrinoless double beta decay experiment

V. Alenkov⁴, H. W. Bae⁵, J. Beyer⁶, R. S. Boiko⁷, K. Boonin⁸, O. Buzanov⁴, N. Chanthima⁸, M. K. Cheoun⁹, D. M. Chernyak⁷, J. S. Choe¹, S. Choi², F. A. Danevich⁷, M. Djamal¹⁰, D. Drung⁶, C. Enss¹¹, A. Fleischmann¹¹, A. M. Gangapshev¹², L. Gastaldo¹¹, Yu. M. Gavriljuk¹², A. M. Gezhaev¹², V. D. Grigoryeva¹⁴, V. I. Gurentsov¹², O. Gylova¹, C. Ha¹, D. H. Ha⁵, E. J. Ha⁹, I. S. Hahn¹⁶, C. H. Jang¹⁷, E. J. Jeon¹, J. A. Jeon¹, H. S. Jo⁵, J. Kaewkhao⁸, C. S. Kang¹, S. J. Kang¹⁸, W. G. Kang¹, V. V. Kazalov¹², S. Kempf¹¹, A. Khan⁵, S. Khan¹⁹, D. Y. Kim¹, G. W. Kim¹⁶, H. B. Kim², H. J. Kim⁵, H. L. Kim⁵, H. S. Kim²⁰, I. Kim ¹^,2^,3^,27, S. C. Kim¹, S. G. Kim¹, S. K. Kim², S. R. Kim¹, W. T. Kim²², Y. D. Kim¹^,22, Y. H. Kim¹^,3^,22^*, K. Kirdsiri⁸, Y. J. Ko¹, V. V. Kobychev⁷, V. Kornoukhov²³, V. V. Kuzminov¹², D. H. Kwon²², C. Lee¹^,28, E. K. Lee¹, H. J. Lee¹, H. S. Lee¹^,22, J. S. Lee¹, J. Y. Lee⁵, K. B. Lee³, M. H. Lee¹^,22, M. K. Lee³, S. W. Lee¹, S. W. Lee⁵, S. H. Lee¹, D. Leonard¹, J. Li¹^,5, J. Li²⁴, Y. Li²⁴, P. Limkitjaroenporn⁸, E. P. Makarov¹⁴, S. Y. Oh²⁰, Y. M. Oh¹, S. L. Olsen¹, A. Pabitra⁵, S. I. Panasenko¹²^,13, I. Pandey⁵, C. W. Park⁵, H. K. Park²¹, H. S. Park³, K. S. Park¹, S. Y. Park¹⁶, D. V. Poda⁷, O. G. Polischuk⁷, H. Prihtiadi¹⁰, S. J. Ra¹, S. S. Ratkevich¹²^,13, G. Rooh²⁵, M. B. Sari¹⁰, K. M. Seo²⁰, J. W. Shin⁹, K. A. Shin¹, V. N. Shlegel¹⁴^,15, K. Siyeon¹⁷, J. H. So¹, J. K. Son¹, N. Srisittipokakun⁸, K. Sujita⁵, V. I. Tretyak⁷, R. Wirawan²⁶, K. R. Woo¹, Y. S. Yoon¹, Q. Yue²⁴ and S. U. Zaman¹⁹

¹ Center for Underground Physics, Institute of Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea
³ Korea Research Institute for Standard Science, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
⁴ JSC FOMOS-Materials, Moscow, 107023, Russia
⁵ Department of Physics, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41566, Republic of Korea
⁶ Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Abbestr. 2-12, 10587, Berlin, Germany
⁷ Institute for Nuclear Research, Kyiv, 03028, Ukraine
⁸ Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, Nakhon Pathom, 73000, Thailand
⁹ Department of Physics, Soongsil University, Seoul, 06978, Republic of Korea
¹⁰ Department of Physics, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia
¹¹ Kirchhoff-Institute for Physics, Heidelberg University, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
¹² Baksan Neutrino Observatory of INR RAS, Kabardino-Balkaria, 361609, Russia
¹³ V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 61022, Ukraine
¹⁴ Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
¹⁵ Novosibirsk State Tech Univ, 20 Karl Marx Prospect, Novosibirsk, 630092, Russia
¹⁶ Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
¹⁷ Department of Physics, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06911, Republic of Korea
¹⁸ Semyung University, Jecheon, 27136, Republic of Korea
¹⁹ Department of Physics, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 26000, Pakistan
²⁰ Department of Physics, Sejong University, Seoul, 05006, Republic of Korea
²¹ Department of Accelerator Science, Korea University, Sejong, 30019, Republic of Korea
²² University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
²³ National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Moscow, 115409, Russia
²⁴ Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China
²⁵ Department of Physics, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, 23200, Pakistan
²⁶ University of Mataram, Mataram, Nusa Tenggara Bar., 83121, Indonesia
²⁷ Present address: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA
²⁸ Present address: Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, 80805, Munich, Germany

^* e-mail: yhk@ibs.re.kr

Received: 25 March 2019
Accepted: 4 September 2019
Published online: 24 September 2019

Abstract

The advanced molybdenum-based rare process experiment (AMoRE) aims to search for neutrinoless double beta decay ( $0\nu \beta \beta$ ) of $^{100}$ Mo with $\sim 100\,\hbox {kg}$ of $^{100}$ Mo-enriched molybdenum embedded in cryogenic detectors with a dual heat and light readout. At the current, pilot stage of the AMoRE project we employ six calcium molybdate crystals with a total mass of 1.9 kg, produced from $^{48}$ Ca-depleted calcium and $^{100}$ Mo-enriched molybdenum ( $^{48{{\text {depl}}}}\hbox {Ca}^{100}\hbox {MoO}_{4}$ ). The simultaneous detection of heat (phonon) and scintillation (photon) signals is realized with high resolution metallic magnetic calorimeter sensors that operate at milli-Kelvin temperatures. This stage of the project is carried out in the Yangyang underground laboratory at a depth of 700 m. We report first results from the AMoRE-Pilot $0\nu \beta \beta$ search with a 111 kg day live exposure of $^{48{{\text {depl}}}}\hbox {Ca}^{100}\hbox {MoO}_{4}$ crystals. No evidence for $0\nu \beta \beta$ decay of $^{100}$ Mo is found, and a upper limit is set for the half-life of $0\nu \beta \beta$ of $^{100}$ Mo of $T^{0\nu }_{1/2} > 9.5\times 10^{22}~\hbox {years}$ at 90% C.L. This limit corresponds to an effective Majorana neutrino mass limit in the range $\langle m_{\beta \beta }\rangle \le (1.2-2.1)\,\hbox {eV}$ .