PNNL

Abstract

Abstract Ultra-pure construction materials are required for the next generation of neutrino physics, dark matter and environmental science applications. These new efforts require materials with purity levels at or below 1 uBq/kg 232Th and 238U. Yet radiometric analysis lacks sensitivity below ~10 uBq/kg for the U and Th decay chains. This limits both the selection of clean materials and the validation of purification processes. Copper is an important high-purity material for low-background experiments due to the ease with which it can be purified by electrochemical methods. Electroplating for purification into near-final shapes, known as electroforming, is one such method. Continued refinement of the copper electroforming process is underway, for the first time guided by an ICP-MS based assay method that can measure 232Th and 238U near the desired purity levels. An assay of electroformed copper at 10 uBq/kg for 232Th has been achieved and is described. The implications of electroformed copper at or better than this purity on next-generation low-background experiments are discussed.