In the field of Double Beta Decay (DBD) searches the possibility to have high resolution detectors in which background can be discriminated is very appealing. This very interesting possibility can be largely fulfilled in the case of a scintillating bolometer containing a Double Beta Decay emitter whose transition energy exceeds the one of the natural gamma line of 208Tl. We present the latest results obtained in the development of such a kind of scintillating bolometer. For the first time an array of five CdWO4 (116Cd has a Double Beta Decay transition energy of 2805 keV) crystals is tested. The array consists of a plane of four 3x3x3 cm3 crystals and a second plane consisting of a single 3x3x6 cm3 crystal. This setup is mounted in hall C of the National Laboratory of Gran Sasso inside a lead shielding in order to reduce as far as possible the environmental background. The aim of this test is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of this technique through an array of detectors and perform a long background measurement in the best conditions in order to prove the achievable background in the Zero neutrino-DBD region.
In the field of Double Beta Decay (DBD) searches, the use of high resolution detectors in which background can be actively discriminated is very appealing. Scintillating bolometers containing a Double Beta Decay emitter can largely fulfill this very interesting possibility. In this paper we present the latest results obtained with CdWO4 and CaMoO4 crystals. Moreover we report, for the first time, a very interesting feature of CaMoO4 bolometers: the possibility to discriminate beta-gamma events from those induced by alpha particles thanks to different thermal pulse shape.
We present the results obtained in the development of scintillating Double Beta Decay bolometers. Several Mo and Cd based crystals were tested with the bolometric technique. The scintillation light was measured through a second independent bolometer. A 140 g CdWO_4 crystal was run in a 417 h live time measurement. Thanks to the scintillation light, the alpha background is easily discriminated resulting in zero counts above the 2615 keV gamma line of Thallium 208. These results, combined with an extremely easy light detector operation, represent the first tangible proof demonstrating the feasib…
ZnSe scintillating bolometers are good candidates for future Double Beta Decay searches, because of the 82Se high Q-value and thanks to the possibility of alpha background rejection on the basis of the scintillation signal. In this paper we report the characteristics and the anomalies observed in an extensive study of these devices. Among them, an unexpected high emission from alpha particles, accompanied with an unusual pattern of the light vs. heat scatter plot. The perspectives for the application of this kind of detectors to search for the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay of 82Se are present…
We report the performances of a 0.51 kg CdWO4 scintillating bolometer to be used for future Double Beta Decay Experiments. The simultaneous read-out of the heat and the scintillation light allows to discriminate between different interacting particles aiming at the disentanglement and the reduction of background contribution, key issue for next generation experiments. We will describe the observed anticorrelation between the heat and the light signal and we will show how this feature can be used in order to increase the energy resolution of the bolometer over the entire energy spectrum, improv…
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…
We present the performances of a 330 g zinc molybdate (ZnMoO4) crystal working as scintillating bolometer as a possible candidate for a next generation experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 100Mo. The energy resolution, evaluated at the 2615 keV gamma-line of 208Tl, is 6.3 keV FWHM. The internal radioactive contaminations of the ZnMoO4 were evaluated as <6 microBq/kg (228Th) and 27\pm6 microBq/kg (226Ra). We also present the results of the alpha vs beta/gamma discrimination, obtained through the scintillation light as well as through the study of the shape of the thermal s…
Zinc molybdate (ZnMoO4) single crystals were grown for the first time by the Czochralski method and their luminescence was measured under X ray excitation in the temperature range 85-400 K. Properties of ZnMoO4 crystal as cryogenic low temperature scintillator were checked for the first time. Radioactive contamination of the ZnMoO4 crystal was estimated as <0.3 mBq/kg (228-Th) and 8 mBq/kg (226-Ra). Thanks to the simultaneous measurement of the scintillation light and the phonon signal, the alpha particles can be discriminated from the gamma/beta interactions, making this compound extremely pr…
We investigate the performances of two ZnMoO4 scintillating crystals operated as bolometers, in view of a next generation experiment to search the neutrinoless double beta decay of Mo-100. We present the results of the alpha vs beta/gamma discrimination, obtained through the scintillation light as well as through the study of the shape of the thermal signal alone. The discrimination capability obtained at the 2615 keV line of Tl-208 is 8 sigma, using the heat-light scatter plot, while it exceeds 20 sigma using the shape of the thermal pulse alone. The achieved FWHM energy resolution ranges fro…
Bolometers are low temperature particle detectors with high energy resolution and detection efficiency. Some types of bolometric detectors are also able to perform an efficient particle identification. A wide variety of radiopure dielectric and diamagnetic materials makes the bolometric technique favorable for applications in astroparticle physics. In particular, thanks to their superior performance, bolometers play an important role in the world-wide efforts on searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Such experiments strongly require an extremely low level of the backgrounds that can eas…
It is important to identify and reduce the gamma radiation which can be a significant source of background for any double beta decay experiment. The TIN.TIN detector array, which is under development for the search of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay in $^{124}$Sn, has the potential to utilize the hit multiplicity information to discriminate the gamma background from the events of interest. Monte Carlo simulations for optimizing the design of a Tin detector module has been performed by varying element sizes with an emphasis on the gamma background reduction capabilities of the detector array.
Large lithium molybdate (Li$_2$MoO$_4$) crystal boules were produced by using the low thermal gradient Czochralski growth technique from deeply purified molybdenum. A small sample from one of the boules was preliminary characterized in terms of X-ray-induced and thermally-excited luminescence. A large cylindrical crystalline element (with a size of $\oslash 40\times40$ mm) was used to fabricate a scintillating bolometer, which was operated aboveground at $\sim 15$ mK by using a pulse-tube cryostat housing a high-power dilution refrigerator. The excellent detector performance in terms of energy…
For the first time, a cadmium tungstate crystal scintillator enriched in $^{116}$Cd has been succesfully tested as a scintillating bolometer. The measurement was performed above ground at a temperature of 18 mK. The crystal mass was 34.5 g and the enrichment level ~82 %. Despite a substantial pile-up effect due to above-ground operation, the detector demonstrated a high energy resolution (2-7 keV FWHM in 0.2-2.6 MeV $γ$ energy range), a powerful particle identification capability and a high level of internal radiopurity. These results prove that cadmium tungstate is an extremely promising dete…
Next-generation experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay must be sensitive to a Majorana neutrino mass as low as 10 meV. CUORE, an array of 988 TeO$_2$ bolometers being commissioned at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, features an expected sensitivity of 50-130 meV at 90% C.L, that can be improved by removing the background from $α$ radioactivity. This is possible if, in coincidence with the heat release in a bolometer, the Cherenkov light emitted by the $β$ signal is detected. The amount of light detected is so far limited to only 100 eV, requiring low-noise cryoge…
Random coincidence of events (particularly from two neutrino double beta decay) could be one of the main sources of background in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay with cryogenic bolometers due to their poor time resolution. Pulse-shape discrimination by using front edge analysis, mean-time and $χ^2$ methods was applied to discriminate randomly coinciding events in ZnMoO$_4$ cryogenic scintillating bolometers. These events can be effectively rejected at the level of 99% by the analysis of the heat signals with rise-time of about 14 ms and signal-to-noise ratio of 900, and at the le…
CUORE, an array of 988 TeO$_2$ bolometers, is about to be one of the most sensitive experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Its sensitivity could be further improved by removing the background from $α$ radioactivity. A few years ago it has been pointed out that the signal from $β$s can be tagged by detecting the emitted Cherenkov light, which is not produced by $α$s. In this paper we confirm this possibility. For the first time we measured the Cherenkov light emitted by a CUORE crystal, and found it to be 100 eV at the $Q$-value of the decay. To completely reject the $α$ back…
$TeO_2$ crystals are used as bolometers in experiments searching for Double Beta Decay without emission of neutrinos. One of the most important issues in this extremely delicate kind of experiments is the characterization of the background. The knowledge of the response to $α$ particles in the energy range where the signal is expected is therefore a must. In this paper we report the results on the response function of a $TeO_2$ bolometer to $α$'s emitted by $^{147}$Sm dissolved in the crystal at the growth phase. A Quenching Factor of ($1.0076\pm 0.0005$) is found, independent of the temperatu…
Among the detectors used for rare event searches, such as neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (0$ν$DBD) and Dark Matter experiments, bolometers are very promising because of their favorable properties (excellent energy resolution, high detector efficiency, a wide choice of different materials used as absorber, ...). However, up to now, the actual interesting possibility to identify the interacting particle, and thus to greatly reduce the background, can be fulfilled only with a double read-out (i.e. the simultaneous and independent read out of heat and scintillation light or heat and ionization). T…
Scintillating bolometers of ZnSe are the baseline choice of the LUCIFER experiment, whose aim is to observe the neutrinoless double beta decay of 82Se. The independent read-out of the heat and scintillation signals allows to identify and reject alpha particle interactions, the dominant background source for bolometric detectors. In this paper we report the performances of a ZnSe crystal operated within the LUCIFER R&D. We measured the scintillation yield, the energy resolution and the background in the energy region where the signal from neutrinoless double beta decay of 82Se is expected with …
Random coincidences of nuclear events can be one of the main background sources in low-temperature calorimetric experiments looking for neutrinoless double-beta decay, especially in those searches based on scintillating bolometers embedding the promising double-beta candidate $^{100}$Mo, because of the relatively short half-life of the two-neutrino double-beta decay of this nucleus. We show in this work that randomly coinciding events of the two-neutrino double decay of $^{100}$Mo in enriched Li$_2$$^{100}$MoO$_4$ detectors can be effectively discriminated by pulse-shape analysis in the light …
This paper reports on the development of a technology involving $^{100}$Mo-enriched scintillating bolometers, compatible with the goals of CUPID, a proposed next-generation bolometric experiment to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Large mass ($\sim$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 double-beta transit…
Bolometers are cryogenic calorimeters which feature excellent energy resolution, low energy threshold, high detection efficiency, flexibility in choice of materials, particle identification capability if operated as hybrid devices. After thirty years of rapid progresses, they represent nowadays a leading technology in several fields: particle and nuclear physics, X-ray astrophysics, cosmology. However, further and substantial developments are required to increase the sensitivity to the levels envisioned by future researches. A review of the challenges to be addressed and potentialities of bolo…
We present the performance of a 33 g Li2MoO4 crystal working as a scintillating bolometer. The crystal was tested for more than 400 h in a dilution refrigerator installed in the underground laboratory of Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy). This compound shows promising features in the frame of neutron detection, dark matter search (solar axions) and neutrinoless double-beta decay physics. Low temperature scintillating properties were investigated by means of different alpha, beta/gamma and neutron sources, and for the first time the Light Yield for different types of interacting parti…
Experiments searching for rare events, such as neutrinoless double beta decay and interactions of dark matter candidates, require extremely low levels of background. When these experiments are performed using macro-bolometers, radioactive contamination near the surfaces is of particular concern. In order to control the effects of surface contamination, we developed a novel technique that uses composite macro-bolometers to identify energy depositions that occur close to the surfaces of materials immediately surrounding the detector. The composite macro-bolometer proposed and studied here consis…
The CUORE experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0nDBD) of 130Te using an array of 988 TeO_2 bolometers operated at 10 mK in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy). The detector is housed in a large cryogen-free cryostat cooled by pulse tubes and a high-power dilution refrigerator. The TeO_2 bolometers measure the event energies, and a precise and reliable energy calibration is critical for the successful identification of candidate 0nDBD and background events. The detector calibration system under development is based on the insertion of 12 gamma-sources that are …
We present the performances of two 92% enriched $^{130}$TeO$_2$ crystals operated as thermal bolometers in view of a next generation experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{130}$Te. The crystals, 435 g each, show an energy resolution, evaluated at the 2615 keV $γ$-line of $^{208}$Tl, of 6.5 and 4.3 keV FWHM. The only observable internal radioactive contamination arises from $^{238}$U (15 and 8 $μ$Bq/kg, respectively). The internal activity of the most problematic nuclei for neutrinoless double beta decay, $^{226}$Ra and $^{228}$Th, are both evaluated as $<$3.1 $μ$Bq/kg fo…
The scintillation properties of a $\mathrm{CdMoO_4}$ crystal have been investigated experimentally. The fluorescence yields and decay times measured from 22 K to 300 K demonstrate that $\mathrm{CdMoO_4}$ crystal is a good candidate for an absorber for a bolometer readout, for both heat and scintillation signals. The results from Monte Carlo studies taking the backgrounds from $\mathrm{2\nu2β}$ of $\mathrm{{}_{42}^{100}Mo}$ ($\mathrm{{}_{48}^{116}Cd}$) and internal trace nuclides $\mathrm{{}^{214}Bi}$ and $\mathrm{{}^{208}Tl}$ into account show that the expected sensitivity of $\mathrm{CdMoO_4}…
Lithium magnesium molybdate (Li$_2$Mg$_2$(MoO$_4$)$_3$) crystals were grown by the low-thermal-gradient Czochralski method. Luminescence properties of the material (emission spectra, thermally stimulated luminescence, dependence of intensity on temperature, phosphorescence) have been studied under X-Ray excitation in the temperature interval from 8 K to 400 K, while at the same being operated as a scintillating bolometer at 20 mK for the first time. We demonstrated that Li$_2$Mg$_2$(MoO$_4)_3$ crystals are a potentially promising detector material to search for neutrinoless double beta decay o…
The LUMINEU is designed to investigate the possibility to search for neutrinoless double beta decay in $^{100}$Mo by means of a large array of scintillating bolometers based on ZnMoO$_4$ crystals enriched in $^{100}$Mo. High energy resolution and relatively fast detectors, which are able to measure both the light and the heat generated upon the interaction of a particle in a crystal, are very promising for the recognition and rejection of background events. We present the LUMINEU concepts and the experimental results achieved aboveground and underground with large-mass natural and enriched cry…
The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is a ton-scale cryogenic experiment designed to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{130}$Te and other rare events. The CUORE detector consists of 988 TeO$_2$ bolometers operated underground at 10 mK in a dilution refrigerator at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. Candidate events are identified through a precise measurement of their energy. The absolute energy response of the detectors is established by the regular calibration of each individual bolometer using gamma sources. The close-packed configuration of the C…
New generation experiments on search for neutrinoless double beta decay with sensitivity to effective Majorana neutrino mass on the level $\sim$ 3-5 meV is discussed. Possible restrictions at achievement of this purpose (possibility to produce big amount of enriched isotopes, possibility to reach very low background level, energy resolution and possible cost of experiments) are considered. It is shown that for realization of so ambitious project 10 tons (or more) of enriched isotope is required. Background index should be on the level $\le$ 10$^{-5}-10^{-6}$ c/kg$\cdot$ keV$\cdot$ y. Besides, …
Cryogenic bolometers, with their excellent energy resolution, flexibility in material, and availability in high purity, are excellent detectors for the search for neutrinoless double beta decay. Kilogram-size single crystals of TeO_2 are utilized in CUORICINO for an array with a total detector mass of 40.7 kg. CUORICINO currently sets the most stringent limit on the halflife of Te-130 of T > 2.4x10^{24} yr (90% C.L.), corresponding to a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass in the range of < 0.2-0.9 eV. Based on technology developed for CUORICINO and its predecessors, CUORE is a next-g…
Possibilities to search for double beta decay of alpha/beta unstable nuclei, many of which have higher energy release than "conventional" (beta stable) double beta decay candidates, are discussed. First experimental half-life limits on double beta decay of radioactive nuclides from U and Th families (trace contaminants of the CaWO_4, CdWO_4 and Gd_2SiO_5 scintillators) were established by reanalyzing the data of low-background measurements in the Solotvina Underground Laboratory with these detectors (1734 h with CaWO_4, 13316 h with CdWO_4, and 13949 h with Gd_2SiO_5 crystals).
Active background reduction in high resolution calorimeters is a promising approach to achieve ultimate sensitivity in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. We propose Cerenkov emission from beta rays in bolometric crystals as a viable alternative to scintillation. This novel approach could broaden the range of materials of interest for calorimetric searches of the double beta decay. We discuss the optical properties of TeO$_2$ crystals, as a show case.
At least one neutrino has a mass of about 50 meV or larger. However, the absolute mass scale for the neutrino remains unknown. Studies of double beta decay offer hope for determining the absolute mass scale. Furthermore, the critical question: Is the neutrino its own antiparticle? is unanswered. In particular, zero-neutrino double beta decay can address the issues of lepton number conservation, the particle-antiparticle nature of the neutrino, and its mass. A summary of the recent progress in double beta decay, and the related technologies will be discussed in the context of the future double …
Spectroscopic studies of two beta-rays from 100Mo are shown to be of potential interest for investigating both the Majorana neutrino mass by neutrinoless double beta-decay and low energy solar neutrino's by inverse beta-decay. With a multi-ton 100Mo detector, coincidence studies of correlated beta-beta from neutrinoless double beta-decay, together with the large Q value, permit identification of the neutrino-mass term with a sensitivity of ~ 0.03 eV. Correlation studies of the inverse beta and the successive beta-decay of 100Tc, together with the large capture rates for low energy solar neutri…
Main achievements during 75 years of research on double beta decay have been reviewed. The existing experimental data have been presented and the capabilities of the next-generation detectors have been demonstrated.
Neutrinoless double beta decay is one of the most powerful tools to set the neutrino mass absolute scale and establish whether the neutrino is a Majorana particle. After a summary of the neutrinoless double beta decay phenomenology, the present status of the experimental search for this rare decay is reported and the prospects for next generation experiments are reviewed.
The present status of double beta decay experiments is reviewed. The results of the most sensitive experiments are discussed. Proposals for future double beta decay experiments with a sensitivity to the $< m_ν >$ at the level of (0.01--0.1) eV are considered.
The brief review of current experiments on search and studying of double beta decay processes is done. Best present limits on $\langle m_ν \rangle$ and $\langle g_{ee} \rangle$ are presented. Prospects of search for neutrinoless double beta decay in new experiments with sensitivity to $\langle m_ν\rangle$ at the level of $\sim$ 0.01-0.1 eV are discussed.
Detector DEVIS is TPC in the magnetic field. It is dedicated to the investigation of the double-beta decay of Xe. Setup sensitivity was estimated in the series of measurements with Xe with natural isotopes composition. Detector allows measuring two-neutrino double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe with half-life less than $3 \cdot 10^{20}$ years.
Energy resolution, alpha/beta ratio, pulse-shape discrimination for gamma rays and alpha particles, radioactive contamination were studied with neodymium doped yttrium-aluminum garnet (YAG:Nd). Applicability of YAG:Nd scintillators to search for double beta decay and alpha activity of natural neodymium isotopes are discussed.
A brief review on double beta decay to excited states of daughter nuclei is given. The ECEC(ov) transision to the excited states are discussed in association with a possible enhancement of the decay rate by several orders of magnitude.
Pulse shape analysis is an important background reduction and signal identification technique for next generation of neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments examining 76Ge. We present a study of the systematic uncertainties in one such parametric pulse-shape analysis technique for separating multi-site backgrounds from single-site signal events. We examined systematic uncertainties for events in full-energy gamma peaks (predominantly multi-site), double escape peaks (predominantly single-site) and the Compton continuum near double-beta decay endpoint (which will be the dominant background f…
The next generation of double-beta decay experiments have an excellent chance of providing data on the neutrino mass pattern. This presentation is a summary of what is currently known about the mass pattern and expectations from experiment. Uncertainties due to the precision in the oscillation parameters are not critical to the interpretation of a zero-neutrino, double-beta decay measurement in terms of the mass pattern. Even though there is reason for optimism, the matrix element uncertainty is still a concern. A selected, representative group of the future experiments is discussed.
ZnMoO$_4$ scintillators with a mass of $\sim$ 0.3 kg, as well as Zn$^{100}$MoO$_4$ crystals enriched in the isotope $^{100}$Mo were produced for the first time by using the low-thermal-gradient Czochralski technique. The optical and luminescent properties of the produced crystals were studied to estimate the progress in crystal growth quality. The low-temperature tests with a 313 g ZnMoO$_4$ and two enriched Zn$^{100}$MoO$_4$ crystals were performed aboveground in the Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière. The low background measurements with a three ZnMoO$_4$ and two enri…
Two neutrino double $β$ decay can create irremovable background even in high energy resolution detectors searching for neutrinoless double $β$ decay due to random coincidence of $2\nu2β$ events in case of poor time resolution. Possibilities to suppress this background in cryogenic scintillating bolometers are discussed. It is shown that the present bolometric detector technologies enable to control this form of background at the level required to explore the inverted hierarchy of the neutrino mass pattern, including the case of bolometers searching for the neutrinoless double $β$ decay of $^{1…
A scintillating bolometer technology based on $^{100}$Mo-enriched lithium molybdate (Li$_2$$^{100}$MoO$_4$) crystals has been developed by LUMINEU to search for neutrinoless double-beta ($0ν2β$) decay of $^{100}$Mo. The results of several low temperature tests at underground environments have proved the reproducibility of high detector performance and crystal radiopurity: in particular $\sim$5--6~keV FWHM energy resolution and at least 9$σ$ rejection of $α$'s in the vicinity of the $0ν2β$ decay of $^{100}$Mo (3034 keV) and below 10~$μ$Bq/kg bulk activity of $^{228}$Th and $^{226}$Ra. A modest …
The LUCIFER project aims at deploying the first array of enriched scintillating bolometers for the investigation of neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{82}$Se. The matrix which embeds the source is an array of ZnSe crystals, where enriched $^{82}$Se is used as decay isotope. The radiopurity of the initial components employed for manufacturing crystals, that can be operated as bolometers, is crucial for achieving a null background level in the region of interest for double-beta decay investigations. In this work, we evaluated the radioactive content in 2.5 kg of 96.3\% enriched $^{82}$Se metal…
Nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) for two neutrino double beta decays are discussed in terms of the Fermi Surface Quasi-Particle (FSQP) Model. The evaluated NMEs agree with the observed NMEs . The new NMEs for two neutrino double beta decays from Kr78, Cd106, Ba130, and Pd110 were evaluated by FSQP. The NMEs show shell configuration dependence. Impacts of the FSQP NMEs for two neutrino double beta decays on the NMEs for neutrino less double beta decays are discussed.
Neutrinoless Double-Beta decay (0$νββ$) processes sample a wide range of intermediate forbidden nuclear transitions, which may be impacted by quenching of the axial vector coupling constant ($g_A/g_V$), the uncertainty of which plays a pivotal role in determining the sensitivity reach of 0$νββ$ experiments. In this Letter, we present measurements performed on a high-resolution LiInSe$_{2}$~ bolometer in a ''source=detector'' configuration to measure the spectral shape of the 4-fold forbidden $β$-decay of $^{115}$In. The value of $g_A/g_V$ is determined by comparing the spectral shape of theore…
Crystal scintillators are very promising detectors to investigate double beta decay of atomic nuclei. Recent achievements in development and application of tungstate and molybdate crystal scintillators as well as prospects for the next generation double beta decay experiments are discussed.
A collection of stories is presented on discoveries of double beta decay (including neutrinoless one) which were refuted in the subsequent investigations.
The current situation in double beta decay experiments , the characteristics of modern detectors and the possibility of increasing the sensitivity to neutrino mass in future experiments are discussed. The issue of the production and use of enriched isotopes in double beta decay experiments is discussed in addition.
Neutrinoless double beta decay is a lepton number violating process whose observation would also establish that neutrinos are their own anti-particles. There are many experimental efforts with a variety of techniques. Some (EXO, Kamland-Zen, GERDA phase I and CANDLES) started take data in 2011 and EXO has reported the first measurement of the half life for the double beta decay with two neutrinos of $^{136}$Xe. The sensitivities of the different proposals are reviewed.
We investigate several Pb$(n,n'γ$) and Ge$(n,n'γ$) reactions. We measure $γ$-ray production from Pb$(n,n'γ$) reactions that can be a significant background for double-beta decay experiments which use lead as a massive inner shield. Particularly worrisome for Ge-based double-beta decay experiments are the 2041-keV and 3062-keV $γ$ rays produced via Pb$(n,n'γ$). The former is very close to the ^{76}Ge double-beta decay endpoint energy and the latter has a double escape peak energy near the endpoint. Excitation $γ$-ray lines from Ge$(n,n'γ$) reactions are also observed. We consider the contributi…
