Production of 82Se enriched Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) crystals for the study of neutrinoless double beta decay

Abstract

High purity Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) crystals are produced starting from elemental Zn and Se to be used for the search of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νDBD) of 82Se. In order to increase the number of emitting nuclides, enriched 82Se is used. Dedicated production lines for the synthesis and conditioning of the Zn82Se powder in order to make it suitable for crystal growth were assembled compliant with radio-purity constraints specific to rare event physics experiments. Besides routine check of impurities concentration, high sensitivity measurements are made for radio-isotope concentrations in raw materials, reactants, consumables, ancillaries and intermediary products used for ZnSe crystals production. Indications are given on the crystals perfection and how it is achieved. Since very expensive isotopically enriched material (82Se) is used, a special attention is given for acquiring the maximum yield in the mass balance of all production stages. Production and certification protocols are presented and resulting ready-to-use Zn82Se crystals are described.

arXiv comment16 pages, 8 figures, corresponding author: I. Dafinei

References in corpus (8)

• Theory of neutrinoless double beta decay
• Performance of scintillation materials at cryogenic temperatures
• Scintillating double beta decay bolometers
• Production of high purity TeO2 single crystals for the study of neutrinoless double beta decay
• Performances of a large mass ZnSe bolometer to search for rare events
• First array of enriched Zn${}^{82}$Se bolometers to search for double beta decay
• Characterization of bolometric Light Detectors for rare event searches
• Double-beta decay investigation with highly pure enriched ${}^{82}$Se for the LUCIFER experiment

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Toward the discovery of matter creation with neutrinoless double-beta decay
• First Result on the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay of ${}^{82}$Se with CUPID-0
• Final result of CUPID-0 phase-I in the search for the ${}^{82}$Se Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
• First array of enriched Zn${}^{82}$Se bolometers to search for double beta decay
• CUPID-0: the first array of enriched scintillating bolometers for 0νββdecay investigations
• Evidence of Single State Dominance in the Two-Neutrino Double-$\beta$ Decay of Se-82 with CUPID-0
• Final Result on the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay of ${}^{82}$Se with CUPID-0
• Low background techniques in bolometers for double-beta decay search
• Experimental searches for rare alpha and beta decays
• Analysis of cryogenic calorimeters with light and heat read-out for double beta decay searches
• Radioactive contamination of scintillators
• Search of the neutrino-less double beta decay of ${}^{82}$Se into the excited states of ${}^{82}$Kr with CUPID-0
• Search for Neutrino-less Double Beta Decay of ${}^{64}$Zn and ${}^{70}$Zn with CUPID-0
• Performance of ZnSe-based scintillators at low temperatures
• Cathodoluminescence of CdZnSSe crystals synthesized in 19th century bead glass
• Search for double $\beta$-decay modes of ${}^{64}$Zn using purified zinc
• Results on ${}^{82}$Se $2\nu \beta \beta$ with CUPID-0 Phase I
• Search for Sterile Neutrinos with CUPID-0