[en] nEXO aims to reduce its gamma backgrounds by taking advantage of the fact that a large number of gammas that would otherwise be backgrounds will undergo multiple compton scattering in the TPC and produce spatially distinct signals. These multi-sited (MS) events can be excluded from the 0vββ search.

[en] We report on the performance of silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) light sensors operating in electric field strength up to 30 kV/cm and at a temperature of 149 K, relative to their performance in the absence of an external electric field. The SiPM devices used in this study show stable gain, photon detection efficiency, and rates of correlated pulses, when exposed to external fields, within the estimated uncertainties. No visible damage to the surface of the devices was caused by the exposure.

[en] The precision reactor oscillation and spectrum experiment, PROSPECT, is designed to make a precise measurement of the antineutrino spectrum from a highly-enriched uranium reactor and probe eV-scale sterile neutrinos by searching for neutrino oscillations over a distance of several meters. PROSPECT is conceived as a 2-phase experiment utilizing segmented ⁶Li-doped liquid scintillator detectors for both efficient detection of reactor antineutrinos through the inverse beta decay reaction and excellent background discrimination. PROSPECT Phase I consists of a movable 3 ton antineutrino detector at distances of 7–12 m from the reactor core. It will probe the best-fit point of the ${\mathrm{\nu <!--\; ??\; -->}}_e$ disappearance experiments at 4σ in 1 year and the favored region of the sterile neutrino parameter space at $><!--\; >\; -->3\mathrm{\sigma <!--\; ??\; -->}$ in 3 years. With a second antineutrino detector at 15–19 m from the reactor, Phase II of PROSPECT can probe the entire allowed parameter space below 10 eV² at 5σ in 3 additional years. The measurement of the reactor antineutrino spectrum and the search for short-baseline oscillations with PROSPECT will test the origin of the spectral deviations observed in recent ${\mathrm{\theta <!--\; ??\; -->}}_{13}$ experiments, search for sterile neutrinos, and conclusively address the hypothesis of sterile neutrinos as an explanation of the reactor anomaly. (topical review)