First CUORE-0 performance results and status of CUORE experiment

The CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta decay in130Te. Observation of the process would unambiguously establish that neutrinos are Majorana particles as well as provide information about the absolute neutrino mass scale and mass hierarchy.The CUORE setup will consist of an array of 988 tellurium dioxide crystals (containing 206 kg of130Te in total), operated as bolometers at a temperature of ∼10mK. The experiment is now under construction at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. As a first step towards CUORE, a tower (CUORE-0) has been assembled and is taking data. Here a detailed description of the CUORE-0 tower and its performance is reported. The status of the CUORE experiment and its expected sensitivity will then be discussed. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.