The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR: An R&D project towards a tonne-scale germanium neutrinoless double-beta decay search

TL;DR

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is a research project developing a low-background germanium detector array to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay and light WIMPs, aiming to inform future large-scale experiments.

Contribution

It presents the design, technology, and status of a low-background germanium detector array for rare event searches, advancing towards a tonne-scale experiment.

Findings

Prototype detectors demonstrate ultra-low background levels.

The setup is capable of detecting neutrinoless double-beta decay.

Initial results inform future large-scale experiments.

Abstract

The MAJORANA collaboration is pursuing the development of the so-called MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR. The DEMONSTRATOR is intended to perform research and development towards a tonne-scale germanium-based experiment to search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of Ge-76. The DEMONSTRATOR can also perform a competitive direct dark matter search for light WIMPs in the 1-10 GeV/c^2 mass range. It will consist of approximately 60-kg of germanium detectors in an ultra-low background shield located deep underground at the Sanford Underground Laboratory in Lead, SD. The DEMONSTRATOR will also perform background and technology studies, and half of the detector mass will be enriched germanium. This talk will review the motivation, design, technology and status of the DEMONSTRATOR.