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  1. Abstract

    We present here a characterization of the low background NaI(Tl) crystal NaI-33 based on a period of almost one year of data taking (891 kg$$\times $$×days exposure) in a detector configuration with no use of organic scintillator veto. This remarkably radio-pure crystal already showed a low background in the SABRE Proof-of-Principle (PoP) detector, in the low energy region of interest (1–6 keV) for the search of dark matter interaction via the annual modulation signature. As the vetoable background components, such as$$^{40}$$40K, are here sub-dominant, we reassembled the PoP setup with a fully passive shielding. We upgraded the selection of events based on a Boosted Decision Tree algorithm that rejects most of the PMT-induced noise while retaining scintillation signals with > 90% efficiency in 1–6 keV. We find an average background of 1.39 ± 0.02 counts/day/kg/keV in the region of interest and a spectrum consistent with data previously acquired in the PoP setup, where the external veto background suppression was in place. Our background model indicates that the dominant background component is due to decays of$$^{210}$$210Pb, only partly residing in the crystal itself. The other location of$$^{210}$$210Pb is the reflector foil that wraps the crystal. We now proceed to design the experimental setup for the physics phase of the SABRE North detector, based on an array of similar crystals, using a low radioactivity PTFE reflector and further improving the passive shielding strategy, in compliance with the new safety and environmental requirements of Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso.

     
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  2. Free, publicly-accessible full text available November 1, 2024
  3. The dark matter interpretation of the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation signal represents a long-standing open question in astroparticle physics. The SABRE experiment aims to test such claim, bringing the same detection technique to an unprecedented sensitivity. Based on ultra-low background NaI(Tl) scintillating crystals like DAMA, SABRE features a liquid scintillator Veto system, surrounding the main target, and it will deploy twin detectors: one in the Northern hemisphere at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy and the other in the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL), Australia, first laboratory of this kind in the Southern hemisphere. The first very-high-purity crystal produced by the collaboration was shipped to LNGS in 2019 for characterization. It features a potassium contamination, measured by mass spectroscopy, of the order of 4 ppb, about three times lower than DAMA/LIBRA crystals. The first phase of the SABRE experiment is a Proof-of-Principle (PoP) detector featuring one crystal and a liquid scintillator Veto, at LNGS. This contribution will present the results of the stand-alone characterization of the first SABRE high-purity crystal, as well as the status of the PoP detector, commissioned early in the summer of 2020. 
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  4. Abstract

    The search for neutrino events in correlation with gravitational wave (GW) events for three observing runs (O1, O2 and O3) from 09/2015 to 03/2020 has been performed using the Borexino data-set of the same period. We have searched for signals of neutrino-electron scattering and inverse beta-decay (IBD) within a time window of$$\pm \, 1000$$±1000 s centered at the detection moment of a particular GW event. The search was done with three visible energy thresholds of 0.25, 0.8 and 3.0 MeV. Two types of incoming neutrino spectra were considered: the mono-energetic line and the supernova-like spectrum. GW candidates originated by merging binaries of black holes (BHBH), neutron stars (NSNS) and neutron star and black hole (NSBH) were analyzed separately. Additionally, the subset of most intensive BHBH mergers at closer distances and with larger radiative mass than the rest was considered. In total, follow-ups of 74 out of 93 gravitational waves reported in the GWTC-3 catalog were analyzed and no statistically significant excess over the background was observed. As a result, the strongest upper limits on GW-associated neutrino and antineutrino fluences for all flavors ($$\nu _e, \nu _\mu , \nu _\tau $$νe,νμ,ντ) at the level$$10^9{-}10^{15}~\textrm{cm}^{-2}\,\textrm{GW}^{-1}$$109-1015cm-2GW-1have been obtained in the 0.5–5 MeV neutrino energy range.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2024
  5. 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$$^{39}$$39K 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$$^{226}$$226Ra and$$^{228}$$228Th inside the crystal to be$$5.9\pm 0.6~\upmu $$5.9±0.6μBq/kg and$$1.6\pm 0.3~\upmu $$1.6±0.3μBq/kg, respectively, which would indicate a contamination from$$^{238}$$238U and$$^{232}$$232Th at part-per-trillion level. We measured an activity of 0.51 ± 0.02 mBq/kg due to$$^{210}$$210Pb out of equilibrium and a$$\alpha $$αquenching 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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