Search for neutrinoless double beta decay in 124 Sn

The mass and nature of neutrinos play an important role in theories beyond the standard model. The nuclear β decay and double beta decay can provide the information on absolute effective mass of the neutrinos, which would represent a major advance in our understanding of particle physics. At present, neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) is perhaps the only experiment that can tell us whether the neutrino is a Dirac or a Majorana particle. Given the significance of the 0νββ, there is a widespread interest for these rare event studies employing a variety of novel techniques. An essential criterion for detector design is the high energy resolution for a precision measurement of the sum energy of two electrons emitted in 0νββ decay. The low temperature bolometric detectors are ideally suited for this purpose. In India, efforts have been initiated to search for 0νββ in 124 Sn at the upcoming underground facility of India based Neutrino Observatory (INO). A custom built cryogen free dilution refrigerator has been installed at TIFR, Mumbai for the development of Sn prototype bolometer. A base temperature of 10 mK has been achieved in this setup. This paper gives a brief description of efforts towards Sn bolometer development.