Liquid argon light collection and veto modeling in GERDA Phase II

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • University College London
  • University of Zurich
  • Russian Research Centre Kurchatov Institute
  • National Institute for Nuclear Physics
  • RAS - Institute for Nuclear Research
  • Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics
  • Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
  • University of Padua
  • Technical University of Munich
  • Max Planck Institute for Physics (Werner Heisenberg Institute)
  • University of L'Aquila
  • Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
  • University of Tübingen
  • Duke University
  • European Commission
  • Dubna State University
  • Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth
  • Université Paris-Saclay

Abstract

The ability to detect liquid argon scintillation light from within a densely packed high-purity germanium detector array allowed the Gerda experiment to reach an exceptionally low background rate in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 76Ge. Proper modeling of the light propagation throughout the experimental setup, from any origin in the liquid argon volume to its eventual detection by the novel light read-out system, provides insight into the rejection capability and is a necessary ingredient to obtain robust background predictions. In this paper, we present a model of the Gerda liquid argon veto, as obtained by Monte Carlo simulations and constrained by calibration data, and highlight its application for background decomposition.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number319
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalEuropean Physical Journal C
Volume83
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-6705-7138/work/170587818

Keywords