Mainz 2014 – scientific programme
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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 32: Dunkle Materie 2
T 32.7: Talk
Monday, March 24, 2014, 18:15–18:30, P11
A liquid argon scintillation veto for the Gerda experiment — •Christoph Wiesinger for the GERDA collaboration — Technische Universität München, Physik Dep., E15, James-Franck-Straße, 85748 Garching
Gerda is an experiment to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 76Ge. Results of Phase I have been published in summer 2013. Currently Gerda is being upgraded to a second phase. To reach the aspired background index of ≤ 10−3 cts/(keV·kg·yr) for Phase II active background-suppression techniques will be applied, including an active liquid argon veto (LAr veto).
It has been demonstrated by the LArGe test facility that the detection of argon scintillation light can be used to effectively suppress background events in the germanium, which simultaneously deposit energy in LAr.
This talk focusses on the light instrumentation which is being installed in Gerda. Photomultiplier tubes (PMT) and wavelength-shifting fibers connected to silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) are used to maximize the photoelectron-yield with respect to various background sources. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to optimize the design for background suppression and low self-induced background. First results of the prototypes and the progress of installation are reported.