Characterization of SABRE crystal NaI-33 with direct underground counting
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 39K contamination of 4.30.2 ppb as determined by mass spectrometry. We measured a light yield of 11.10.2 photoelectrons/keV and an energy resolution of 13.2% (FWHM/E) at 59.5 keV. We evaluated the activities of 226Ra and 228Th inside the crystal to be 5.90.6 μBq/kg and 1.60.3 μBq/kg, respectively, which would indicate a contamination from 238U and 232Th at part-per-trillion level. We measured an activity of 0.510.02 mBq/kg due to 210Pb out of equilibrium and a α quenching factor of 0.630.01 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 1 count/day/kg/keV in the [5-20] keV region.