Study of neutron-induced background and its effect on the search of 0$\nu\beta\beta$ decay in $\rm^{124}Sn$

Abstract

Neutron-induced background has been studied in various components of the TIN.TIN detector, which is under development for the search of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay in $\rm^{124}Sn$. Fast neutron flux $\sim10^{6}~n~cm^{-2}s^{-1}$ covering a broad energy range ($ \sim0.1$ to $ \sim18$~MeV) was generated using $^{9}Be(p,n)^{9}B$ reaction. In addition, reactions with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons were also studied using $^{7}Li(p,n)^{7}Be$ reaction. Among the different cryogenic support structures studied, Teflon is found to be preferable compared to Torlon as there is no high energy gamma background ($E_\gamma >$ 1 MeV). Contribution of neutron-induced reactions in $\rm ^{nat, 124} $Sn from other Sn isotopes (A = 112 -- 122) in the energy region of interest, namely, around the $Q_{\beta\beta}$ of $\rm^{124}Sn$ ($E \sim$ 2.293 MeV), is also investigated.