Characterization of SABRE crystal NaI-33 with direct underground counting

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 K-39 contamination of 4.3 +/- 0.2 ppb as determined by mass spectrometry. We measured a light yield of 11.1 +/- 0.2 photoelectrons/keV and an energy resolution of 13.2% (FWHM/E) at 59.5 keV. We evaluated the activities of Ra-226 and Th-228 inside the crystal to be 5.9 +/- 0.6 mu Bq/kg and 1.6 +/- 0.3 mu Bq/kg, respectively, which would indicate a contamination from U-238 and Th-232 at part-per-trillion level. We measured an activity of 0.51 +/- 0.02 mBq/kg due to Pb-210 out of equilibrium and a alpha quenching factor of 0.63 +/- 0.01 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 similar to 1 count/day/kg/keV in the [5-20] keV region.

Automated summary

This study reports the first characterization of the NaI-33 crystal, showing its extremely low contamination levels and acceptable energy performance. The research also demonstrates analysis techniques developed for noise rejection and detection of intrinsic radioactivity.