Thermal neutron-induced γ-ray background in 124Sn

G Gupta; H Krishnamoorthy; A Garai; A Mazumdar; V Nanal; A Shrivastava; R G Pillay

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.108923

Thermal neutron-induced γ-ray background in ¹²⁴Sn

Appl Radiat Isot. 2020 Apr:158:108923. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.108923. Epub 2019 Oct 8.

Authors

G Gupta¹, H Krishnamoorthy², A Garai², A Mazumdar², V Nanal³, A Shrivastava⁴, R G Pillay¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, 400005, India.
² India-based Neutrino Observatory, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, 400005, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, 400094, India.
³ Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, 400005, India. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, 400094, India; Nuclear Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, 400085, India.

PMID: 32174381
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.108923

Abstract

The thermal neutron-induced gamma-ray background in ¹²⁴Sn is investigated in connection with neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) studies in ¹²⁴Sn. For this purpose, a 99.26% enriched ¹²⁴Sn sample was irradiated with a thermal neutron fluence of 3×10¹⁵/cm² in the Dhruva reactor at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. The gamma ray spectra of the irradiated sample were measured in a low background counting setup to study both long-lived and short-lived activities. The present data give an independent measurement of the half-life of ¹²⁵Sn*(32⁺) and ¹²⁵Sn(112^-) as 10.01(8) min and 9.63(2) d, respectively. The impact of the observed high-energy gamma rays and the residual activity due to ¹²⁵Sb, on the background in the region of interest around the Q_ββ value of ¹²⁴Sn (~2.291 MeV) is discussed.

Keywords: Thermal neutron capture; γ-ray background.