Charge Trapping and Energy Performance of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR

Abstract

P-type point contact (PPC) high-purity germanium detectors are an important technology in astroparticle and nuclear physics due to their superb energy resolution, low noise, and pulse shape discrimination capabilities. Analysis of data from the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, a neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment deploying PPC detectors enriched in ${}^{76}$Ge, has led to several novel improvements in the analysis of PPC signals. In this work we discuss charge trapping in PPC detectors and its effect on energy resolution. Small dislocations or impurities in the crystal lattice result in trapping of charge carriers from an ionization event of interest, attenuating the signal and degrading the measured energy. We present a modified digital pole-zero correction to the signal energy estimation that counters the effects of charge trapping and improves the energy resolution of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR by approximately 30% to around 2.4 keV FWHM at 2039 keV, the ${}^{76}$Ge $Q$-value. An alternative approach achieving similar resolution enhancement is also presented.

arXiv comment12 pages, 13 figures

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• Energy Calibration of Germanium Detectors for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR
• Final Results of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR's Search for Double-Beta Decay of ${}^{76}$Ge to Excited States of ${}^{76}$Se
• Rare multi-nucleon decays with the full data sets of the Majorana Demonstrator
• CycleGAN-Driven Transfer Learning for Electronics Response Emulation in High-Purity Germanium Detectors