Production of 82Se enriched Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) crystals for the study of neutrinoless double beta decay

Understand

High purity Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) crystals are produced starting from elemental Zn and Se to be used for the search of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0{\nu}DBD) of 82Se.

• In order to increase the number of emitting nuclides, enriched 82Se is used.
• Dedicated production lines for the synthesis and conditioning of the Zn82Se powder in order to make it suitable for crystal growth were assembled compliant with radio-purity constraints specific to rare event physics experiments.
• Besides routine check of impurities concentration, high sensitivity measurements are made for radio-isotope concentrations in raw materials, reactants, consumables, ancillaries and intermediary products used for ZnSe crystals production.