Speaker
Description
The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT) searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) in ¹³⁶Xe using high-pressure xenon time projection chambers.
NEXT is a phased program, with the most recent ongoing experiment, NEXT-100, enriched to 90 % of ¹³⁶Xe at 13.5 bar. The experiment started taking data in winter 2024 and demonstrated an electron-drift time of ≈ 60 ms and an energy resolution of 4.8 % FWHM at 42 keV for ⁸³ᵐKr decays and is expected to reach a half-life sensitivity of ≳ 2.4 × 10²⁵ years at 90 % CL after three years of data taking, corresponding to a residual background index of roughly one count per year over the region of interest (ROI). NEXT-ton will include a multi-module ton scale program, culminating in a module that will include barium tagging to enable an essentially background-free search.
This talk will present the latest performance of NEXT-100 and outline the roadmap to the ton-scale era.
