Study of neutron-induced background and its effect on the search of 0$\hat{I}½{\hat{I}}^2{\hat{I}}^2$ decay in ${}^{124}\mathrm{Sn}$

Abstract

Neutron-induced background has been studied in various components of the TIN.TIN detector, which is under development for the search of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay in ${}^{124}\mathrm{Sn}$. Fast neutron flux $\sim 10^{6}nc{m}^{-2}{s}^{-1}$ covering a broad energy range ($\sim 0.1$ to $\sim 18$~MeV) was generated using ${}^{9}Be(p,n{)}^{9}B$ reaction. In addition, reactions with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons were also studied using ${}^{7}Li(p,n{)}^{7}Be$ reaction. Among the different cryogenic support structures studied, Teflon is found to be preferable compared to Torlon as there is no high energy gamma background ($E_{\hat{I}}^3>$ 1 MeV). Contribution of neutron-induced reactions in ${}^{\mathrm{nat},124}$Sn from other Sn isotopes (A = 112 -- 122) in the energy region of interest, namely, around the $Q_{{\hat{I}}^2{\hat{I}}^2}$ of ${}^{124}\mathrm{Sn}$ ($E\sim$ 2.293 MeV), is also investigated.

17 pages, 7 figures, Accepted version (with minor revision)