Abstract Ultra-pure NaI(Tl) crystals are the key element for a model-independent verification of the long standing DAMA result and a powerful means to search for the annual modulation signature of dark matter interactions. The SABRE collaboration has been developing cutting-edge techniques for the reduction of intrinsic backgrounds over several years. In this paper we report the first characterization of a 3.4 kg crystal, named NaI-33, performed in an underground passive shielding setup at LNGS. NaI-33 has a record low$$^{39}$$ K contamination of 4.3 ± 0.2 ppb as determined by mass spectrometry. We measured a light yield of 11.1 ± 0.2 photoelectrons/keV and an energy resolution of 13.2% (FWHM/E) at 59.5 keV. We evaluated the activities of$$^{226}$$ Ra and$$^{228}$$ Th inside the crystal to be$$5.9\pm 0.6~\upmu $$ Bq/kg and$$1.6\pm 0.3~\upmu $$ Bq/kg, respectively, which would indicate a contamination from$$^{238}$$ U and$$^{232}$$ Th at part-per-trillion level. We measured an activity of 0.51 ± 0.02 mBq/kg due to$$^{210}$$ Pb out of equilibrium and a$$\alpha $$ quenching factor of 0.63 ± 0.01 at 5304 keV. We illustrate the analyses techniques developed to reject electronic noise in the lower part of the energy spectrum. A cut-based strategy and a multivariate approach indicated a rate, attributed to the intrinsic radioactivity of the crystal, of$$\sim $$ 1 count/day/kg/keV in the [5–20] keV region. 
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                            Identification of new isomers in $$^{228}$$Ac: impact on dark matter searches
                        
                    
    
            Abstract We report the identification of metastable isomeric states of$$^{228}$$ Ac at 6.28 keV, 6.67 keV and 20.19 keV, with lifetimes of an order of 100 ns. These states are produced by the$$\beta $$ -decay of$$^{228}$$ Ra, a component of the$$^{232}$$ Th decay chain, with$$\beta $$ Q-values of 39.52 keV, 39.13 keV and 25.61 keV, respectively. Due to the low Q-value of$$^{228}$$ Ra as well as the relative abundance of$$^{232}$$ Th and their progeny in low background experiments, these observations potentially impact the low-energy background modeling of dark matter search experiments. 
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                            - Award ID(s):
- 1913742
- PAR ID:
- 10306794
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Science + Business Media
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The European Physical Journal C
- Volume:
- 81
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 1434-6044
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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