Search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of Ge-76 with GERDA

摘要

GERDA, the GERmanium Detector Array experiment, is a new double beta-decayexperiment which is currently under construction in the INFN National GranSasso Laboratory (LNGS), Italy. It is implementing a new shielding concept byoperating bare Ge diodes - enriched in Ge-76 - in high purity liquid argonsupplemented by a water shield. The aim of GERDA is to verify or refute therecent claim of discovery, and, in a second phase, to achieve a two orders ofmagnitude lower background index than recent experiments. The paper discussesmotivation, physics reach, design and status of construction of GERDA, andpresents some R&D results.