Radioactive contamination of BaF2 crystal scintillator

P. Belli; R. Bernabei; F. Cappella; V. Caracciolo; R. Cerulli; A. Di Marco; F.A. Danevich; A. Incicchitti; D.V. Poda; O.G. Polischuk; V.I. Tretyak

doi:10.1051/epjconf/20136504004

All issues

Volume 65 (2014)

EPJ Web of Conferences, 65 (2014) 04004

Abstract

Open Access

Issue		EPJ Web of Conferences Volume 65, 2014 RPSCINT 2013 – International Workshop on Radiopure Scintillators


Article Number		04004
Number of page(s)		4
Section		Poster Session
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20136504004
Published online		10 January 2014

EPJ Web of Conferences 65, 04004 (2014)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20136504004

Radioactive contamination of BaF₂ crystal scintillator

P. Belli¹, R. Bernabei¹^,2, F. Cappella³^,4, V. Caracciolo⁵, R. Cerulli⁵, A. Di Marco², F.A. Danevich⁶, A. Incicchitti³, D.V. Poda⁶, O.G. Polischuk³^,6^a and V.I. Tretyak⁶

¹ INFN, Sezione di Roma “Tor Vergata”, I-00133 Rome, Italy
² Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, I-00133 Rome, Italy
³ INFN, Sezione di Roma, I-00185 Rome, Italy
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, I-00185 Rome, Italy
⁵ INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, I-67100 Assergi ( AQ), Italy
⁶ Institute for Nuclear Research, MSP 03680 Kyiv, Ukraine

^a e-mail: polischuk@kinr.kiev.ua

Published online: 10 January 2014

Abstract

Barium fluoride (BaF₂) crystal scintillators are promising detectors to search for double beta decay processes in ¹³⁰Ba (Q_2β = 2619(3) keV) and ¹³²Ba (Q_2β = 844(1) keV). The ¹³⁰Ba isotope is of particular interest because of the indications on 2β decay found in two geochemical experiments. The radioactive contamination of BaF₂ scintillation crystal with mass of 1.714 kg was measured over 113.4 hours in a low-background DAMA/R&D set-up deep underground (3600 m w.e.) at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of INFN (LNGS, Italy). The half-life of ²¹²Po (present in the crystal scintillator due to contamination by radium) was estimated as T_1/2 = 298.8 ± 0.8(stat.) ± 1.4(syst.) ns by analysis of the events pulse profiles.

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