Neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay is a hypothesized lepton-number-violating process that offers the only known means of asserting the possible Majorana nature of neutrino mass. The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is an upcoming experiment designed to search for 0νββ decay of 130 Te using an array of 988 TeO 2 crystal bolometers operated at 10 mK. The detector will contain 206 kg of 130 Te and have an average energy resolution of 5 keV; the projected 0νββ decay half-life sensitivity after five years of live time is 1.6 × 10 26 y at 1σ (9.5 × 10 25 y at the 90% confidence level), which corresponds to an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass in the range 40-100 meV (50-130 meV). In this paper we review the experimental techniques used in CUORE as well as its current status and anticipated physics reach.

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CUORE-0 is a cryogenic detector that uses an array of tellurium dioxide bolometers to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 130 Te. We present the first data analysis with 7.1 kg · y of total TeO 2 exposure focusing on background measurements and energy resolution. The background rates in the neutrinoless double-beta decay region of interest (2.47 to 2.57 MeV) and in the α backgrounddominated region (2.70 to 3.90 MeV) have been measured to be 0.071 ± 0.011 and 0.019 ± 0.002 counts/(keV · kg · y), respectively. The latter result represents a factor of 6 improvement from a predecessor experiment, Cuoricino. The results verify our understanding of the background sources in CUORE-0, which is the basis of extrapolations to the full CUORE detector. The obtained energy resolution (full width at half maximum) in the region of interest is 5.7 keV. Based on the measured background rate and energy resolution in the region of interest, CUORE-0 half-life sensitivity is expected to surpass the observed lower bound of Cuoricino with one year of live time.