Introduction to double beta decay experiments and CUORE

Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay is searched by physicists since tens of years. The experimental approaches and the results obtained so far are introduced and briefly reviewed. Fighting to reach higher and higher sensitivities novel techniques have been suggested and large mass experiments have been proposed or are under construction. Within this picture, cryogenic particle detectors play a primary role. CUORICINO, a 40.7 kg array of low temperature TeO 2 calorimeters, provided one of the best limit on the Majorana mass of neutrino. The final result of this - now closed - experiment is here presented. The heir of CUORICINO is CUORE: an array of 988 TeO 2 calorimeters with a total mass of 750 kg. The current status of CUORE - presently under construction at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso - is illustrated, the perspectives for the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay search are discussed. © 2012 Elsevier B.V