Precision Measurements of Beta Spectra using Metallic Magnetic Calorimeters within the European Metrology Research Project MetroBeta

Martin Loidl (1) , J. Beyer (2) , L. Bockhorn (3) , J. Bonaparte (4) , C. Enss (4) , S. Kempf (4) , K. Kossert (3) , Riham Mariam (1) , O. Nähle (3) , M. Paulsen (2) , P. Ranitzsch (3) , Matias Rodrigues (1) , M. Wegner (4)

1 LNHB (CEA, LIST) - Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (CEA, LIST)
2 PTB - Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt [Berlin]
3 PTB - Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt [Braunschweig]
4 Kirchhoff Institute for Physics

MetroBeta, a recently completed European Metrology Research Project, aimed at the improvement of the knowledge of the shapes of beta spectra, both in terms of theoretical calculation and measurement. The most prominent experimental work package concerned the measurement of the spectrum shapes of several beta decaying radionuclides by means of metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs) with the beta emitter embedded in the absorber. New MMC chips were designed and optimized for five different absorber heat capacities, enabling the measurement of beta spectra with Q values ranging from few tens of keV up to ~ 1 MeV. Several beta spectra were measured with high energy resolution and statistics of up to 107 counts.

Mots clés: metrology; radioactivity; ionizing radiation; beta-rays; beta spectra; Decay data measurement; Decay data evaluation; instrumentation; nuclear instrumentation; spectrum analysis; metallic magnetic calorimeter; calorimeter; absorber; absorber heat capacity; energy resolution

Domaines: Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]; Physique Nucléaire Expérimentale [nucl-ex]

Martin Loidl, J. Beyer, L. Bockhorn, J. Bonaparte, C. Enss, et al.. Precision Measurements of Beta Spectra using Metallic Magnetic Calorimeters within the European Metrology Research Project MetroBeta. Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 2020, 199 (1-2), pp.451-460. ⟨10.1007/s10909-020-02398-2⟩. ⟨cea-04567222⟩