An experimental investigation of double beta decay of 100Mo

New limits on half-lives for several double beta decay modes of 100Mo were obtained with a novel experimental system which included thin source films interleaved with a coaxial array of windowless silicon detectors. Segmentation and timing information allowed backgrounds originating in the films to be studied in some detail. Dummy films containing 96Mo were used to assess remaining backgrounds. With 0.1 mole years of 100Mo data collected, the lower half-life limits at 90% confidence were 2.7 /times/ 1018 years for decay via the two-neutrino mode, 5.2 /times/1019 years for decay with the emission of a Majoron, and 1.6 /times/ 1020 years and 2.2 /times/ 1021 years for neutrinoless 0+ → 2+ and 0+ → 0+ transitions, respectively. 50 refs., 38 figs., 11 tabs