CUORE: a cryogenic underground observatory for rare events

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 518; no. 3; pp. 775 - 798
• Main Authors: Arnaboldi, C, Avignone III, F.T, Beeman, J, Barucci, M, Balata, M, Brofferio, C, Bucci, C, Cebrian, S, Creswick, R.J, Capelli, S, Carbone, L, Cremonesi, O, de Ward, A, Fiorini, E, Farach, H.A, Frossati, G, Giuliani, A, Giugni, D, Gorla, P, Haller, E.E, Irastorza, I.G, McDonald, R.J, Morales, A, Norman, E.B, Negri, P, Nucciotti, A, Pedretti, M, Pobes, C, Palmieri, V, Pavan, M, Pessina, G, Pirro, S, Previtali, E, Rosenfeld, C, Smith, A.R, Sisti, M, Ventura, G, Vanzini, M, Zanotti, L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 11.02.2004
• Subjects: Axions; Dark Matter; Double-beta decay; Underground detectors; WIMPs; 95.35.+d; 14.80.Mz; WIMPs; Axions; 23.40.−s; Underground detectors; Double-beta decay; Dark Matter
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2003.07.067

CUORE is a proposed tightly packed array of 1000 TeO 2 bolometers, each being a cube 5 cm on a side with a mass of 760 g . The array consists of 25 vertical towers, arranged in a square of 5 towers×5 towers, each containing 10 layers of four crystals. The design of the detector is optimized for ultralow-background searches: for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 130 Te (33.8% abundance), cold dark matter, solar axions, and rare nuclear decays. A preliminary experiment involving 20 crystals 3×3×6 cm 3 of 340 g has been completed, and a single CUORE tower is being constructed as a smaller-scale experiment called CUORICINO. The expected performance and sensitivity, based on Monte Carlo simulations and extrapolations of present results, are reported.