1.3 kg bolometers to search for rare events

Two TeO 2 crystal bolometers of 1.3 kg each, the largest single crystals ever operated with this technique, have been successfully realized and tested below 10 mK, in a dilution refrigerator located deep underground in the Gran Sasso National Laboratories. The calibration spectrum, obtained using an external 232Th γ -ray source, shows an energy resolution of 3–4 keV FWHM from 0.5 to 2.6 MeV, for both detectors. In the α region, a 4.3 keV FWHM resolution has been observed on the 5407 keV peak due to the α decay of 210Po, a natural contaminant of TeO 2 crystals.