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SuperNEMO
The SuperNEMO is a modern neutrinoless double beta decay, \(0\nu\beta\beta\), experiment built upon the success of NEMO-3.
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The double-\(\beta\) decay signature is characterised by the emission of two electrons from the same vertex. By precise measurement of the energies of the electrons emitted from decay of the source foil isotope it is possible to identify \(2\nu\beta\beta\) and\(0\nu\beta\beta\) events. SuperNEMO distinguishes itself from other current double beta decay experiments as it can reconstruct the 3D topology, time of flight and energies of each detected event. Tight constraints can therefore be placed on \(0\nu\beta\beta\) events as it requires two electron being emitted from the same point on the foil simultaneously, thus providing a unique and powerful background rejection method and “smoking gun” evidence for the process as shown in figure \ref{fig:sn_tracking}.
SuperNEMO comprises of 20 identical detector modules each containing 5 kg of nuclear isotope each. The current isotope is \({}^{82}\)Se, however, other candidates such as \({}^{150}\)Nd, \({}^{48}\)Ca, etc are also possible. Each module (6m x 4m x 2m) constitutes a stand alone detector each composed of 5 segments, see figure \ref{fig:sn}. At the centre of each module is the source foil containing the decay isotope, sandwiched on each side by gaseous tracking chambers (operated in geiger mode) then followed by calorimeter walls. A magnetic field is applied to each module for particle identification.