Development of an array of HPGe detectors with 980% relative efficiency

TL;DR

This paper reports the development and performance of a novel 14-element high-purity germanium detector with high efficiency, designed for sensitive physics searches and background screening in underground laboratories.

Contribution

It introduces the design, installation, and performance evaluation of a new low-background germanium detector array with 980% relative efficiency.

Findings

Achieved high sensitivity in background detection

Successfully installed and tested the detector at an underground lab

Demonstrated potential for rare physics interaction searches

Abstract

Searches for new physics push experiments to look for increasingly rare interactions. As a result, detectors require increasing sensitivity and specificity, and materials must be screened for naturally occurring, background-producing radioactivity. Furthermore the detectors used for screening must approach the sensitivities of the physics-search detectors themselves, thus motivating iterative development of detectors capable of both physics searches and background screening. We report on the design, installation, and performance of a novel, low-background, fourteen-element high-purity germanium detector named the CAGe (CUP Array of Germanium), installed at the Yangyang underground laboratory in Korea.