The CUORE experiment, a ton-scale cryogenic bolometer array, recently began operation at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The array represents a significant advancement in this technology, and in this work we apply it for the first time to a high-sensitivity search for a lepton-number-violating process: ^{130}Te neutrinoless double-beta decay. Examining a total TeO_{2} exposure of 86.3 kg yr, characterized by an effective energy resolution of (7.7±0.5)  keV FWHM and a background in the region of interest of (0.014±0.002)  counts/(keV kg yr), we find no evidence for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Including systematic uncertainties, we place a lower limit on the decay half-life of T_{1/2}^{0ν}(^{130}Te)>1.3×10^{25}  yr (90% C.L.); the median statistical sensitivity of this search is 7.0×10^{24}  yr. Combining this result with those of two earlier experiments, Cuoricino and CUORE-0, we find T_{1/2}^{0ν}(^{130}Te)>1.5×10^{25}  yr (90% C.L.), which is the most stringent limit to date on this decay. Interpreting this result as a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass, we find m_{ββ}<(110-520)  meV, where the range reflects the nuclear matrix element estimates employed.

This paper reports on the development of a technology involving 100 Mo-enriched scintillating bolometers, compatible with the goals of CUPID, a proposed nextgeneration bolometric experiment to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Large mass (∼ 1 kg), high optical quality, radiopure 100 Mo-containing zinc and lithium molybdate crystals have been produced and used to develop high performance single detector modules based on 0.2-0.4 kg scintillating bolometers. In particular, the energy resolution of the lithium molybdate detectors near the Q-value of the doublebeta transition of 100 Mo (3034 keV) is 4-6 keV FWHM. The rejection of the α-induced dominant background above 2.6 MeV is better than 8σ . Less than 10 µBq/kg activity of 232 Th ( 228 Th) and 226 Ra in the crystals is ensured by boule recrystallization. The potential of 100 Mo-enriched scintillating bolometers to perform high sensitivity double-beta decay searches has been demonstrated with only 10 kg×d exposure: the two neutrino double-beta decay half-life of 100 Mo has been measured with the up-to-date highest accuracy as T 1/2 = [6.90 ± 0.15(stat.) ± 0.37(syst.)] × 10 18 years. Both crystallization and detector technologies favor lithium molybdate, which has been selected for the ongoing construction of the CUPID-0/Mo demonstrator, containing several kg of 100 Mo.

CUPID-Mo is a bolometric experiment to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νβ β ) of 100 Mo. In this article, we detail the CUPID-Mo detector concept, assema e-mail: andrea.giuliani@csnsm.in2p3.fr bly, installation in the underground laboratory in Modane in 2018, and provide results from the first datasets. The demonstrator consists of an array of 20 scintillating bolometers comprised of 100 Mo-enriched 0.2 kg Li 2 MoO 4 crystals. The

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130 Te with an array of 988 TeO 2 bolometers operating at temperatures around 10 mK. The experiment is currently being commissioned in Hall A of Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. The goal of CUORE is to reach a 90% C.L. exclusion sensitivity on the 130 Te decay half-life of 9 × 10 25 years after 5 years of data taking. The main issue to be addressed to accomplish this aim is the rate of background events in the region of interest, which must not be higher than 10 −2 counts/keV/kg/year. We developed a detailed Monte Carlo simulation, based on results from a campaign of material screening, radioassays, and bolometric measurements, to evaluate the expected background. This was used over the years to guide the construction strategies of the experiment and we use it here to project a background model for CUORE. In this paper we report the results of our study and our expectations for the background rate in the energy region where the peak signature of neutrinoless double beta decay of 130 Te is expected.

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