LArGe: Background suppression using liquid argon (LAr) scintillation for 0$\nu\beta\beta$ decay search with enriched germanium (Ge) detectors

Abstract

Measurements with a bare p-type high purity germanium diode (HPGe) submerged in a 19 kg liquid argon (LAr) scintillation detector at MPIK Heidelberg are reported. The liquid argon--germanium system (LArGe) is operated as a 4$\pi$ anti-Compton spectrometer to suppress backgrounds in the HPGe. This R&D is carried out in the framework of the GERDA experiment which searches for 0$\nu\beta\beta$ decays with HPGe detectors enriched in $^{76}$Ge. The goal of this work is to develop a novel method to discriminate backgrounds in 0$\nu\beta\beta$ search which would ultimately allow to investigate the effective neutrino mass free of background events down to the inverse mass hierarchy scale. Other applications in low-background counting are expected.