Muon and Neutron Fluxes in Felsenkeller Underground Laboratory

Screening the effect of cosmic rays leads to the construction of underground laboratories. Nevertheless, natural radioactivities in the environment still affect the radiation background. Four types of radioactive decays are emitted, alpha particles, neutrons, gamma rays (X-rays), and electrons/positrons in addition to the muons that produce secondary electrons due to their weakly interaction with the surrounding matter even in deep underground places. Shielding the detector with lead and paraffin protect it against gamma rays and neutrons, respectively. Electrons penetrate the shielding structure of the detector and have negative contribution to the background. Moreover, the shielding material itself may contain radioactive isotopes, which turn them to be a source of noise. Hence, studying the intensity of muons in the shallow-underground laboratory at Felsenkeller, which has been built recently, will set a constraint on one area that be utilized to store ultra-low background materials that will be used in the future to perform neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments. In parallel with that, neutron intensity measurements with the help of Monte Carlo simulations are needed to provide more information about the neutron flux as a function of the location in the Felsenkeller.