Open AccessThe cosmic muon-induced background for the LEGEND-1000 alternative site at LNGS
Author(s) -
M. Neuberger,
L. Pertoldi,
S. Schönert,
C. Wiesinger
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/2156/1/012216
Subject(s) - physics , nuclear physics , muon , double beta decay , cosmic ray , cosmic cancer database , muon capture , neutron , isotope , astrophysics , particle physics , neutrino
The in-situ production of long-lived radio-isotopes by cosmic muon interactions may generate a non-negligible background for rare event searches in the deep subsurface. The delayed decay of 77(m) Ge has been identified as the dominant in-situ cosmogenic contributor for a neutrinoless double-beta decay search with 76 Ge. The future ton-scale LEGEND-1000 experiment requires a total background of ≤ 10 −5 cts/(keV-kg-yr). Dedicated Monte Carlo studies of the 77(m) Ge background at the alternative LNGS site were performed. The addition of passive neutron moderators, in combination with a delayed coincidence strategy, results in a background contribution of 8.6 × 10 −7 cts/(keV.kg.yr) with an additional dead time of < 9%.