Aboveground test of an advanced Li$_2$MoO$_4$ scintillating bolometer to   search for neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{100}$Mo
  Large lithium molybdate (Li$_2$MoO$_4$) crystal boules were produced by using the low thermal gradient Czochralski growth technique from deeply purified molybdenum. A small sample from one of the boules was preliminary characterized in terms of X-ray-induced and thermally-excited luminescence. A large cylindrical crystalline element (with a size of $\oslash 40\times40$ mm) was used to fabricate a scintillating bolometer, which was operated aboveground at $\sim 15$ mK by using a pulse-tube cryostat housing a high-power dilution refrigerator. The excellent detector performance in terms of energy resolution and $\alpha$ background suppression along with preliminary positive indications on the radiopurity of this material show the potentiality of Li$_2$MoO$_4$ scintillating bolometers for low-counting experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{100}$Mo. 
T.B. Bekker, N. Coron, F.A. Danevich, V.Ya. Degoda, A. Giuliani, V.D.   Grigorieva, N.V. Ivannikova, M. Mancuso, P. de Marci...
physics.ins-det nucl-ex