The NEXT double beta decay experiment

TL;DR

The NEXT experiment uses a high-pressure xenon TPC with electroluminescence to detect neutrinoless double beta decay, offering high energy resolution and track reconstruction for background rejection.

Contribution

This paper presents the design, construction, and initial operation of the NEXT-100 detector, a novel approach for neutrinoless double beta decay detection using electroluminescent xenon TPCs.

Findings

Construction of NEXT-100 completed and operational in Spain.

Initial background measurements and two-neutrino decay mode observed.

Track reconstruction techniques developed for background discrimination.

Abstract

NEXT (Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC) aims to observe the neutrinoless double beta decay of \ensuremath{{}^{136}\rm Xe} in a high-pressure gas xenon Time Projection Chamber using electroluminescence to amplify the signal from ionization. The two main advantages of this technology are a high energy resolution and the possibility of reconstructing electron tracks. NEXT-100 is an electroluminescent, asymmetric TPC which will host 100 kg of the \ensuremath{{}^{136}\rm Xe} isotope at 15 bar of pressure. On one side, a sparse array of photomultipliers records both the primary scintillation signal, which gives the starting time of the event, and electroluminescence, which gives a precise measurement of the total deposited energy. On the other side, a dense grid of silicon photomultipliers provides the reconstruction of the electron tracks. Being able to reconstruct the position of a track is doubly useful: on the one hand, it allows the correction of the energy of the event, which varies according to position, and on the other hand it provides an extra handle for background rejection, since a two-electron track shows higher energy density at both ends, while a single-electron track only at one end. After a prototyping period (2009-2014) NEXT has completed the construction and started the operation of its first phase (NEW) in the Laboratorio Subterr\'aneo de Canfranc, in the Spanish Pyrenees, with the objectives of measuring the NEXT background model and the two-neutrino mode of the double beta decay.