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Since December 2015, the GERDA experiment restarted its search for lepton number violation via the neutrinoless double beta decay of germanium-76. The first 6 months of data were released in June 2016.
With the extended detector mass of 36 kg and an unprecedented low background of 0.001 cts/keV kg yr, the highest sensitivity ever reached with germanium detectors was already equaled (from Phase I of the experiment, 2011-2013). This was achieved with a new background suppression technique, by using the liquid argon cryostat of the detector as a scintillator to veto background events. The new limit on the life time of the decay, as well as the success of the new technique and the record background were reported in the April issue of Nature 544, 47–52 (2017).
