LUCIFER: AN EXPERIMENTAL BREAKTHROUGH IN THE SEARCH FOR NEUTRINOLESS DOUBLE BETA DECAY

LUCIFER (Low-background Underground Cryogenic Installation For Elusive Rates) is a new project for the study of neutrinoless Double Beta Decay, based on the technology of the scintillating bolometers. These devices promise a very efficient rejection of the a background, opening the way to a virtually background-free experiment if candidates with a transition energy higher than 2615 keV are investigated. The baseline candidate for LUCIFER is ⁸²Se. This isotope will be embedded in ZnSe crystals grown with enriched selenium and operated as scintillating bolometers in a low-radioactivity underground dilution refrigerator. In this paper, the LUCIFER concept will be introduced and the sensitivity and the prospects related to this project will be discussed.