Status report of the Gerda Phase II startup

The GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) experiment, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) of INFN, searches for 0νββ of 76Ge. Germanium diodes enriched to ∼ 86 % in the double beta emitter 76Ge (enrGe) are exposed being both source and detector of 0νββ decay. This process is considered a powerful probe to address still open issues in the neutrino sector of the (beyond) Standard Model of particle Physics. Since 2013, at the completion of the first experimental phase (Phase I), the Gerda setup has been upgraded to perform its next step (Phase II). The aim is to reach a sensitivity to the 0νββ decay halflife larger than 1026 yr in about 3 years of physics data taking, exposing a detector mass of about 35 kg of enrGe with a background index of about 10−3cts/(keV·kg·yr). One of the main new implementations is the liquid argon (LAr) scintillation light read-out, to veto those events that only partially deposit their energy both in Ge and in the surrounding LAr. In this paper the Gerda Phase II expected goals, the upgraded items and few selected features from the first 2016 physics and calibration runs will be presented. The main Phase I achievements will be also reviewed