Development of holmium-163 electron-capture spectroscopy with transition-edge sensors

Abstract

Calorimetric decay energy spectroscopy of electron-capture-decaying isotopes is a promising method to achieve the sensitivity required for electron neutrino mass measurement. The very low total nuclear decay energy (QEC < 3 keV) and short half-life (4570 y) of 163Ho make it attractive for high-precision electron capture spectroscopy (ECS) near the kinematic endpoint, where the neutrino momentum goes to zero. In the ECS approach, an electron-capture-decaying isotope is embedded inside a microcalorimeter designed to capture and measure the energy of all the decay radiation except that of the escaping neutrino. We have developed a complete process for proton-irradiation-based isotope production, isolation, and purification of 163Ho. We have developed transition-edge sensors for this measurement and methods for incorporating 163Ho into high-resolution microcalorimeters, and have measured the electron-capture spectrum of 163Ho. We present our work in these areas and discuss the measured spectrum and its comparison to current theory.

Updated with corrected notation for atomic states

References in corpus (6)

• HOLMES - The Electron Capture Decay of 163Ho to Measure the Electron Neutrino Mass with sub-eV sensitivity
• Direct Measurement of the Mass Difference of Ho163 and Dy163 Solves the Q-Value Puzzle for the Neutrino Mass Determination
• Examination of the calorimetric spectrum to determine the neutrino mass in low-energy electron capture decay
• Electron Capture in 163Ho and Overlap plus Exchange Corrections and the Neutrino Mass
• Determination of the neutrino mass by electron capture in 163 Holmium and the role of the three-hole states in 163 Dysprosium
• Improved Description of One- and Two-Hole States after Electron Capture in 163 Holmium and the Determination of the Neutrino Mass

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• Phenomenological Modeling of the ${}^{163}$Ho Calorimetric Electron Capture Spectrum from the HOLMES Experiment
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