Speaker
Description
The DarkSide-20k is a next-generation dark matter experiment aiming at a direct detection of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) via nuclear recoils in liquid argon. The detector, currently under construction at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), Italy, will benefit from the natural shielding against cosmic rays provided by the lab’s underground location. It will employ a dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC) with a 50-ton of underground-sourced argon acting as an active volume. DarkSide-20k is designed to operate in an “instrumental background-free” regime over a planned exposure of 200 tonne-years.
This ambitious goal of DarkSide-20k is enabled by the excellent background rejection capabilities of liquid argon, particularly through pulse shape discrimination, combined with a comprehensive system of active veto detectors. A key element in achieving the experiment’s low-background is the use of novel, cryogenic, low-noise, custom developed Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) arrays, which instrument both the veto systems and the top and bottom planes of the TPC (28 $m^2$). The TPC photosensors are currently being produced and characterized at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory and at the Photodetector Test Facility (PTF) in Naples.
In this talk I will present the strategy for the large-scale production of SiPM sensors, including testing protocols, performance validation, and selection criteria ensuring detector reliability and optimal performance. I will also discuss the results from the first operations in a small-scale dual-phase detector.