Study on cosmogenic activation in copper for rare event search experiments

Abstract

The rare event search experiments using germanium detectors are performed in the underground laboratories to prevent cosmic rays. However, the cosmogenic activation of the cupreous detector components on the ground will generate long half-life radioisotopes and contribute continually to the expected background level. We present a study on the cosmogenic activation of copper after 504 days of exposure at an altitude of 2469.4 m outside the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL). The specific activities of the cosmogenic nuclides produced in the copper bricks were measured using a low background germanium gamma-ray spectrometer at CJPL. The production rates at sea level, in units of nuclei/kg/day, are 18.6 \pm 2.0 for Mn-54, 9.9 \pm 1.3 for Co-56, 48.3 \pm 5.5 for Co-57, 51.8 \pm 2.5 for Co-58 and 39.7 \pm 5.7 for Co-60, respectively. Given the expected exposure history of the germanium detectors, a Monte Carlo simulation is conducted to assess the cosmogenic background contributions of the detectors' cupreous components.

arXiv comment6 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (18)

• Background free search for neutrinoless double beta decay with GERDA Phase II
• Limits on Light Weakly Interacting Massive Particles from the First 102.8 kg $\times$ day Data of the CDEX-10 Experiment
• Constraints on Spin-Independent Nucleus Scattering with sub-GeV Weakly Interacting Massive Particle Dark Matter from the CDEX-1B Experiment at the China Jin-Ping Laboratory
• The projected background for the CUORE experiment
• The Majorana Demonstrator Radioassay Program
• Material radioassay and selection for the XENON1T dark matter experiment
• The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) radioactivity and cleanliness control programs
• Search for Light Weakly-Interacting-Massive-Particle Dark Matter by Annual Modulation Analysis with a Point-Contact Germanium Detector at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory
• Cosmogenic Production as a Background in Searching for Rare Physics Processes
• Cosmogenic Activation of Materials Used in Rare Event Search Experiments
• Direct Detection Constraints on Dark Photons with CDEX-10 Experiment at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory
• Cosmogenic activation of xenon and copper
• Trace radioactive impurities in final construction materials for EXO-200
• Improved limits on solar axions and bosonic dark matter from the CDEX-1B experiment using the profile likelihood ratio method
• Cosmogenic Activation of Germanium Used for Tonne-Scale Rare Event Search Experiments
• SAGE : A Monte Carlo Simulation Framework for Experiments with Germanium Detectors
• Cosmogenic activation in double beta decay experiments
• In-situ gamma-ray background measurements for next generation CDEX experiment in the China Jinping Underground Laboratory