NEXT-100 is an electroluminescent high-pressure xenon gas time projection chamber that will search for the neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay of ¹³⁶Xe. The detector possesses two features of great value for 0νββ searches: energy resolution better than 1% FWHM at the Q value of ¹³⁶Xe and track reconstruction for the discrimination of signal and background events. This combination results in excellent sensitivity, as discussed in this paper. Material-screening measurements and a detailed Monte Carlo detector simulation predict a background rate for NEXT-100 of at most 4 × 10⁻⁴ counts keV⁻¹ kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Accordingly, the detector will reach a sensitivity to the 0νββ-decay half-life of 2.8 × 10²⁵ years (90% CL) for an exposure of 100 kg·year, or 6.0 × 10²⁵ years after a run of 3 effective years. Open image in new window

We present the design, data and results from the NEXT prototype for Double Beta and Dark Matter (NEXT-DBDM) detector, a high-pressure gaseous natural xenon electroluminescent time projection chamber (TPC) that was built at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is a prototype of the planned NEXT-100 136Xe neutrino-less double beta decay (0νββ) experiment with the main objectives of demonstrating near-intrinsic energy resolution at energies up to 662 keV and of optimizing the NEXT-100 detector design and operating parameters. Energy resolutions of ∼1% FWHM for 662 keV gamma rays were obtained at 10 and 15 atm and ∼5% FWHM for 30 keV fluorescence xenon X-rays. These results demonstrate that 0.5% FWHM resolutions for the 2459 keV hypothetical neutrino-less double beta decay peak are realizable. This energy resolution is a factor 7-20 better than that of the current leading 0νββ experiments using liquid xenon and thus represents a significant advancement. We present also first results from a track imaging system consisting of 64 silicon photo-multipliers recently installed in NEXT-DBDM that, along with the excellent energy resolution, demonstrates the key functionalities required for the NEXT-100 0νββ searc

The NEXT experiment aims to observe the neutrinoless double beta decay of ¹³⁶Xe in a high-pressure xenon gas TPC using electroluminescence (EL) to amplify the signal from ionization. One of the main advantages of this technology is the possibility to reconstruct the topology of events with energies close to Q _ββ . This paper presents the first demonstration that the topology provides extra handles to reject background events using data obtained with the NEXT-DEMO prototype.

A new method to tag the barium daughter in the double-beta decay of ${}^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$ is reported. Using the technique of single molecule fluorescent imaging (SMFI), individual barium dication (${\mathrm{Ba}}^{++}$) resolution at a transparent scanning surface is demonstrated. A single-step photobleach confirms the single ion interpretation. Individual ions are localized with superresolution ($\sim 2\mathrm{nm}$), and detected with a statistical significance of $12.9\sigma$ over backgrounds. This lays the foundation for a new and potentially background-free neutrinoless double-beta decay technology, based on SMFI coupled to high pressure xenon gas time projection chambers.

NEXT is an experiment dedicated to neutrinoless double beta decay searches in xenon. The detector is a TPC, holding 100 kg of high-pressure xenon enriched in the¹³⁶Xe isotope. It is under construction in the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc in Spain, and it will begin operations in 2015. The NEXT detector concept provides an energy resolutionbetter than 1% FWHM and a topological signal that can be used to reduce the background. Furthermore, the NEXT technology can be extrapolated to a 1 ton-scale experiment.