Scintillating double-beta-decay bolometers

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 α background is easily discriminated, resulting in zero counts above the 2615-keV γ line of 208 Tl. These results, combined with an extreme easy light detector operation, represent the first tangible proof demonstrating the feasibility of this kind of technique.