1.3Â kg bolometers to search for rare events

Two TeO2 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 TeO2 crystals.