Speaker
Description
The SuperNEMO experiment will study decays of 82Se in order to look for neutrinoless double beta decays (0νββ), interactions that, if observed, would prove the Majorana nature of neutrinos. SuperNEMO inherits the tracking-calorimetry technology of NEMO-3, which allows for a clear determination of event kinematics, while aiming for an improved background suppression and 0νββ sensitivity. A demonstrator module will start operating in 2019. The double beta emitting source, 7 kg of 82Se, is shaped in thin foils (20 squared meters), and surrounded by a half meter long helium tracking chamber composed of 2000 Geiger cells. A 4 PI gamma catcher and electron calorimeter, made of plastic scintillators with an energy resolution of 7% (FWHM) at 1 MeV, surrounds the whole. The demonstrator is constructed in ultra low radioactivity materials and is installed in the Modane Underground Laboratory in the Frejus Tunnel under the French-Italian Alps.
