CANDLES FOR THE STUDY OF ββ DECAY OF ~(48)CA

摘要

CANDLES is the project to search for double beta decay of ~(48)Ca by using crystals. Study of double beta decay becomes of particular importance after confirmation of neutrino oscillation which shows that neutrinos have mass. We have been studying double beta decays of ~(48)Ca by using ELEGANTS VI detector system which features CaFa(Eu) crystals. We gave the best limit on the lifetime of neutrino-less double beta decay of ~(48)Ca though further development is highly desirable to reach the mass region of current interest. CANDLES is our detector system to sense the mass region. Here we describe the concept and design of detector and current status of development.