Search for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

The Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) aims to detect "neutrino-less double-beta decay" using large amounts of xenon isotopically enriched in the isotope 136. Simply stated the long-term goals of the project are:

  • Probe the Majorana nature of neutrinos
  • Access effective Majorana masses approaching 10 meV

We are planning to identify the final state of the decay, a barium atom, using high resolution, single atom spectroscopy.

The EXO collaboration already has 200 kg of Xenon enriched to 80% in the isotope 136. The EXO-200 experiment is currently taking data at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, NM.