Development of NEXT-100 for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Searches

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) searches are sensitive to the presently unknown nature and mass of neutrinos. The Neutrino Experiment with a high-pressure Xenon Time Projection Chamber (NEXT) collaboration has designed and operated gaseous xenon detectors in order to demonstrate the suitability of this technology for 0νββ searches. The NEXT collaboration currently operates a 5 kg-scale detector at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (Spain) and is developing a successor expected to be completed in 2019. NEXT-100 will show the performance and scalability of high pressure gaseous xenon TPCs as a 100 kg-scale detector. This talk will describe the design and construction, as well as the expected performance, of NEXT-100.