Ядерна фізика та енергетика Nuclear Physics and Atomic Energy   ISSN: 1818-331X (Print), 2074-0565 (Online)   Publisher: Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine   Languages: Ukrainian, English, Russian   Periodicity: 4 times per year   Open access peer reviewed journal

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A. S. Barabash¹, P. Belli^2,3, R. Bernabei^2,3, R. S. Boiko^4,5, F. Cappella⁶, V. Caracciolo⁷, R. Cerulli^2,3, F. A. Danevich⁴, A. Di Marco^2,3, A. Incicchitti^6,8, D. V. Kasperovych^4,*, R. V. Kobychev⁴, V. V. Kobychev⁴, S. I. Konovalov¹, M. Laubenstein⁷, D. V. Poda^4,9, O. G. Polischuk⁴, V. I. Tretyak⁴, V. I. Umatov<sup>1

1</sup> National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow, Russia
² INFN, sezione di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
³ Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
⁴ Institute for Nuclear Research, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
⁵ National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
⁶ INFN, sezione di Roma, Rome, Italy
⁷ INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi (AQ), Italy
⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Roma “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
⁹ CSNSM, Universite Paris-Sud, CNRS/IN2P3, Universite Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France

^*Corresponding author. E-mail address: dkasper@kinr.kiev.ua

Abstract: The double beta decay of ¹⁵⁰Nd to the first excited 0⁺ level of ¹⁵⁰Sm (E_exc = 740.5 keV) was investigated with the help of the ultra-low-background setup consisting of four HP Ge (high-purity germanium) detectors (≃225 cm³ volume each one) at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory of INFN (Italy). A highly purified 2.381-kg sample of neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) was used as a source of γ quanta expected in the decays. Gamma quanta with energies 334.0 keV and 406.5 keV emitted after deexcitation of the 0₁⁺ 740.5 keV excited level of ¹⁵⁰Sm are observed in the coincidence spectra accumulated over 16375 h. The half-life relatively to the two neutrino double beta decay ¹⁵⁰Nd → ¹⁵⁰Sm(0₁⁺) is measured as T_1/2 = [4.7^+4.1_-1.9(stat)±0.5(syst)]×10¹⁹ y, in agreement with results of previous experiments.

Keywords: double beta decay, ¹⁵⁰Nd, low counting experiment.

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