NEUTRINOLESS DOUBLE BETA DECAY WITH TeO₂ BOLOMETERS: PAST AND FUTURE

TeO₂ bolometric detectors have shown to be a promizing technique for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (ββ(0ν)) research. With an analyzed statistics of ~18.14 kg ¹³⁰Te × years the CUORICINO experiment has reached a limit on ¹³⁰Te half life for this decay of 2.94×10²⁴ years (90% C.L.). After an intense R&D aimed to background reduction, the next generation CUORE experiment is presently under construcion and foreseen to take data in 2013. Its sensitivity on the electron neutrino Majorana mass 〈m_ee〉 is expected to probe the Inverted Hierarchy Region (IHR) of the neutrino mass spectrum.