^archPbMoO4 scintillating bolometer as detector to searches for the neutrinoless double beta decay of ¹⁰⁰Mo

The ^archPbMoO₄ scintillating crystal has been produced from archaeological lead for the first time. The advanced technique for deep purification of lead against chemical impurities was used resulting in 99.9995% purity level of final material. The ^archPbMoO₄ crystal was characterized by means of cryogenics bolometric measurements and demonstrates excellent performances as a scintillating bolometer. The energy resolution (0.3% at 1462 keV of ⁴⁰K), the high light yield (5.2 keV/MeV for γs, and 1.2 keV/MeV for α particles) and the highly efficient particle identification achieved with this detector, representing the high quality of the crystal. As a final proof for the feasibility of the ^archPbMoO₄ crystal as a promising detector to search for the neutrinoless double β-decay of ¹⁰⁰Mo, the crystal should be produced using the LTG Czochralski technique to prevent the possible contamination during the crystal growth and to increase the production yield. (paper)