Improvement of radiopurity level of enriched $^{116}$CdWO$_4$ and   ZnWO$_4$ crystal scintillators by recrystallization
  As low as possible radioactive contamination of a detector plays a crucial role to improve sensitivity of a double beta decay experiment. The radioactive contamination of a sample of $^{116}$CdWO$_4$ crystal scintillator by thorium was reduced by a factor $\approx 10$, down to the level 0.01 mBq/kg ($^{228}$Th), by exploiting the recrystallization procedure. The total alpha activity of uranium and thorium daughters was reduced by a factor $\approx 3$, down to 1.6 mBq/kg. No change in the specific activity (the total $\alpha$ activity and $^{228}$Th) was observed in a sample of ZnWO$_4$ crystal produced by recrystallization after removing $\approx 0.4$ mm surface layer of the crystal. 
A.S. Barabash, P. Belli, R. Bernabei, Yu.A. Borovlev, F. Cappella, V.   Caracciolo, R. Cerulli, F.A. Danevich, A. Incicchitt...
physics.ins-det nucl-ex