On September 10, the SuperNEMO demonstrator recorded its first two-track event! This is the result of a long collaborative effort with in particular a strong involvement of the mechanical and electronic services of IJCLab.
The SuperNEMO demonstrator (Neutrino Ettore Majorana Observatory) aims to study the existence of the double beta decay without neutrino thanks to the events coming from the core of the detector containing an isotope of Selenium. Observation of this reaction would show that the neutrino is its own antiparticle (a Majorana particle).
SuperNEMO, made up of a trace detector and a calorimeter, is installed at the Underground Laboratory in Modane, to protect itself from parasitic signals generated by cosmic particles and in an ultra-low radioactivity environment. The magnetic field generator has just been installed, then will come the anti-radon tent and then the gamma and neutron shielding of the laboratory, before going in search of the double beta decay of Selenium 82...
Within the international SuperNEMO collaboration (Finland, France, Japan, United Kingdom, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, USA), IJCLab is one of the six French CNRS / IN2P3 laboratories. Researchers from the IJCLab PHE, involved in this experiment, are responsible for the construction of the calorimeter and the integration of the SuperNEMO demonstrator at the Underground Laboratory in Modane. They also have strong implications in the design, manufacture and testing of electronics, as well as calorimeter commissioning and analysis preparation.