Measurement of the 214Bi spectrum in the energy region around the Q-value of 76Ge neutrinoless double-beta decay

In this work, we present the results obtained measuring the 214Bi spectrum from a 226Ra source with a high-purity germanium detector. Our attention was mostly focused on the energy region around the Q-value of 76Ge neutrinoless double-beta decay (2039.006 keV). The results of this measurement are strongly related to the first indication for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of 76Ge, given by a recent analysis (Mod. Phys. Lett. A 16 (37) (2001) 2409; Part. Nucl. 110 (2002) 57; Found. Phys. 31 (2002) 1181; in: H.V. Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, R.D. Viollier (Eds.), Proceedings of DARK2002, Cape Town, South Africa, February 4–9, 2002, Springer, Heidelberg, 2002, pp. 367–403) of the data collected during 10 years of measurements from the HEIDELBERG–MOSCOW experiment.