Double-beta decay Q values of 116Cd and 130Te

The Q values of the Cd-116 and Te-130 double-beta decaying nuclei were determined by using a Penning trap mass spectrometer. The new atomic mass difference between Cd-116 and Sn-116 of 2813.50(13) key differs by 4.5 key and is 30 times more precise than the previous value of 2809(4) key. The new value for Te-130, 2526.97(23) key is close to the Canadian Penning trap value of 2527.01 +/- 0.32 key (Scielzo et al., 2009) [1], but differs from the Florida State University trap value of 2527.518 +/- 0.013 key (Redshaw et al., 2009) [2] by 0.55 keV (2 sigma). These values are sufficiently precise for ongoing neutrinoless double-beta decay searches in Cd-116 and Te-130. Hence, our Q values were used to compute accurate phase-space integrals for these double-beta decay nuclei. In addition, experimental two-neutrino double-beta decay nuclear matrix elements were determined and compared with the theoretical values. The neutrinoless double-beta decay half-lives for these nuclei were estimated using our precise phase-space integrals and considering the range of the best available matrix elements values. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.