München 2009 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help
T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 100: Niederenergie-Neutrinophysik & Suche nach dunkler Materie 1
T 100.2: Talk
Monday, March 9, 2009, 17:20–17:35, A140
Characterisation of GERDA Phase-I detectors in liquid argon — •Marik Barnabe Heider1, Konstantin Gusev2, 3, and Stefan Schönert1 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik — 2Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute — 3Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
GERDA will search for neutrinoless double beta decay in 76Ge by submerging bare enriched HPGe detectors in liquid argon. In GERDA Phase-I, reprocessed enriched-Ge detectors, which were previously operated by the Heidelberg-Moscow and IGEX collaborations, and reprocessed natural-Ge detectors from Genius-TF, will be redeployed. We have tested the operation and performance of bare HPGe detectors in liquid nitrogen and in liquid argon over more than three years with three non-enriched p-type prototype detectors. The detector handling and mounting procedures have been defined and the Phase-I detector technology, the low-mass assembly and the long-term stability in liquid argon have been tested successfully. The Phase-I detectors were reprocessed by Canberra Semiconductor NV, Olen, according to their standard technology but without the evaporation of a passivation layer. After their reprocessing, the detectors have been mounted in their low-mass holders and their characterisation in liquid argon performed. The leakage current, the counting characteristics and the efficiency of the detectors have been measured. The testing of the detectors was carried out in the liquid argon test stand of the GERDA underground Detector Laboratory (GDL) at LNGS. The detectors are now stored underground under vacuum until their operation in GERDA.