Intrinsic radiopurity of a Li2MoO4 crystal

The radiopurity of a lithium molybdate (Li2MoO4) single crystal, a potential detector for the search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of Mo-100, was studied deep underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) (Italy). Data were collected with a crystal sample with a mass of 33.95g, using a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector with a total measurement time of 1240.3 h. With the exception of slight pollution with K-40 ((170 +/- 80) mBq/kg), no other radioactive contaminants were found; the derived upper limits are: < 20 mBq/kg for U-238 chain, < 30 mBq/kg for Th-232 chain, < 4 mBq/kg for Cs-137 and < 8 mBq/kg for Co-60. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.