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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 26, 2025

Visualization of Low-Level Gamma Radiation Sources Using a Low-Cost, High-Sensitivity, Omnidirectional Compton Camera

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Thermal neutron-induced γ-ray background in ¹²⁴Sn.

G Gupta¹, H Krishnamoorthy², A Garai²

¹Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, 400005, India.

Applied Radiation and Isotopes : Including Data, Instrumentation and Methods for Use in Agriculture, Industry and Medicine

|March 17, 2020

Summary

Investigating the gamma-ray background in tin-124 (¹²⁴Sn) is crucial for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) studies. This research measured activities in irradiated ¹²⁴Sn, providing new half-life data and assessing background impacts.

Keywords:

Thermal neutron capture γ-ray background

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Area of Science:

Nuclear physics
Particle physics
Radioactive decay studies

Background:

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) searches require precise understanding of background radiation.
Tin-124 (¹²⁴Sn) is a candidate isotope for 0νββ experiments, necessitating characterization of its induced radioactivity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the thermal neutron-induced gamma-ray background in ¹²⁴Sn.
To measure the half-lives of short-lived and long-lived activities in irradiated ¹²⁴Sn.
To assess the impact of these activities on 0νββ experiments targeting ¹²⁴Sn.

Main Methods:

Irradiation of a highly enriched ¹²⁴Sn sample with thermal neutrons (3×10¹⁵/cm²) at the Dhruva reactor.
Measurement of gamma-ray spectra using a low-background counting setup.
Analysis of gamma-ray spectra to identify and quantify radioactive isotopes and their decay properties.

Main Results:

Independent measurements of the half-life for ¹²⁵Sn*(32⁺) as 10.01(8) minutes.
Independent measurements of the half-life for ¹²⁵Sn(112^-) as 9.63(2) days.
Identification of residual activity from ¹²⁵Sb and its potential contribution to background noise.

Conclusions:

The characterized gamma-ray background and measured half-lives provide essential data for future 0νββ experiments using ¹²⁴Sn.
High-energy gamma rays and ¹²⁵Sb activity can impact the region of interest around ¹²⁴Sn's Q_ββ value (~2.291 MeV).
This study offers crucial insights for background reduction strategies in sensitive nuclear decay searches.