Speaker
Description
The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR has recently completed data-taking for its search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) in $^{76}$Ge.
If observed, this beyond the standard model process that would prove the neutrino is a Majorana fermion and provide a path to leptogenesis in the early universe.
The experiment has completed operation of a modular array of 44 kg of high purity germanium detectors, in the p-type point contact (PPC), inverted-coaxial point-contact (ICPC), and broad energy germanium (BEGe) geometries.
30 kg of PPC and 6 kg of ICPC detectors belonging to the LEGEND experiment were enriched to 88% in $^{76}$Ge.
After removing the enriched detectors in March of 2021 for future operation in LEGEND-200, the experiment is continuing to operate 23 BEGe detectors with natural isotopic abundance.
To minimize backgrounds, the DEMONSTRATOR is constructed from low-background materials and housed inside a compact shield consisting of lead and copper at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, SD.
Each of the detector geometries enable the use of pulse shape discrimination techniques that can reject multi-site and surface backgrounds.
Furthermore, the experiment has achieved a leading energy resolution of 0.12% FWHM at 2039 keV.
This talk will provide an update on recent improvements to the MAJORANA analysis and future plans for the experiment.
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, the Particle Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Programs of the National Science Foundation, and the Sanford Underground Research Facility.
