Upgrade for Phase II of the GERDA Experiment

Abstract

The GERDA collaboration is performing a sensitive search for neutrinoless double beta decay of ${}^{76}$Ge at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. The upgrade of the GERDA experiment from Phase I to Phase II has been concluded in December 2015. The first Phase II data release shows that the goal to suppress the background by one order of magnitude compared to Phase I has been achieved. GERDA is thus the first experiment that will remain background-free up to its design exposure (100 kg yr). It will reach thereby a half-life sensitivity of more than 10${}^{26}$ yr within 3 years of data collection. This paper describes in detail the modifications and improvements of the experimental setup for Phase II and discusses the performance of individual detector components.

arXiv comment31 pages, 34 figures

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