The Electron Capture ¹⁶³Ho Experiment ECHo

The determination of the absolute scale of the neutrino masses is one of the most challenging present questions in particle physics. The most stringent limit, m(ν¯_e)<2 eV, was achieved for the electron anti-neutrino mass. Different approaches are followed to reach a sensitivity on neutrino masses in the sub-eV range. Among them, experiments exploring the beta decay or electron capture of suitable nuclides can provide information on the electron neutrino mass value. We present the electron capture ¹⁶³Ho experiment ECHo, which aims to investigate the electron neutrino mass in the sub-eV range by means of the analysis of the calorimetrically measured energy spectrum following electron capture in ¹⁶³Ho. A high precision and high statistics spectrum will be measured with arrays of metallic magnetic calorimeters. We discuss some of the essential aspects of ECHo to reach the proposed sensitivity: detector optimization and performance, multiplexed readout, ¹⁶³Ho source production and purification, as well as a precise theoretical and experimental parameterization of the calorimetric EC spectrum including in particular the value of Q_EC . We present preliminary results obtained with a first prototype of single channel detectors as well as a first 64-pixel chip with integrated micro-wave SQUID multiplexer, which will already allow to investigate m(ν_e) in the eV range