Performance of a large TeO2 crystal as a cryogenic bolometer in searching for neutrinoless double beta decay

Abstract

Bolometers are ideal devices in the search for neutrinoless Double Beta Decay. Enlarging the mass of individual detectors would simplify the construction of a large experiment, but would also decrease the background per unit mass induced by alpha-emitters located close to the surfaces and background arising from external and internal gamma's. We present the very promising results obtained with a 2.13 kg TeO2 crystal. This bolometer, cooled down to a temperature of 10.5 mK in a dilution refrigerator located deep underground in the Gran Sasso National Laboratories, represents the largest thermal detector ever operated. The detector exhibited an energy resolution spanning a range from 3.9 keV (at 145 keV) to 7.8 keV (at the 2615 gamma-line of 208Tl) FWHM. We discuss the decrease in the background per unit mass that can be achieved increasing the mass of a bolometer.

6 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Double Beta Decay, Majorana Neutrinos, and Neutrino Mass
• 130Te Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay with CUORICINO
• Performance of ZnMoO4 crystal as cryogenic scintillating bolometer to search for double beta decay of molybdenum
• Production of high purity TeO2 single crystals for the study of neutrinoless double beta decay
• Characterization of ZnSe scintillating bolometers for Double Beta Decay
• Scintillating bolometers for Double Beta Decay search

Cited by in corpus (4)

• ZnMoO4: a promising bolometer for neutrinoless double beta decay searches
• Low background techniques in bolometers for double-beta decay search
• Particle Discrimination in TeO${}_2$ Bolometers using Light Detectors read out by Transition Edge Sensors
• The saga of neutrinoless double beta decay search with TeO2 thermal detectors