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Demonstration of Single Barium Ion Sensitivity for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay using Single Molecule Fluorescence Imaging

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 نشر من قبل Austin McDonald
 تاريخ النشر 2017
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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A new method to tag the barium daughter in the double beta decay of $^{136}$Xe is reported. Using the technique of single molecule fluorescent imaging (SMFI), individual barium dication (Ba$^{++}$) resolution at a transparent scanning surface has been demonstrated. A single-step photo-bleach confirms the single ion interpretation. Individual ions are localized with super-resolution ($sim$2~nm), and detected with a statistical significance of 12.9~$sigma$ over backgrounds. This lays the foundation for a new and potentially background-free neutrinoless double beta decay technology, based on SMFI coupled to high pressure xenon gas time projection chambers.



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