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Cryogenic characterisation of the FBK NUV-HD-cryo Silicon Photomultipliers for the DarkSide-20k dark matter experiment

Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) are highly promising detectors for dark matter searches due to their uniform response, scalability to large target masses, and compatibility with ultra-low background conditions. The DarkSide-20k (DS-20k) experiment, currently under construction at Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), aims to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), approaching the neutrino fog. At the heart of the detector is a dual-phase TPC filled and surrounded by low-radioactivity argon from underground sources (i.e. Underground Argon (UAr)), functioning both as the WIMP target and detection medium. The experiment employs Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) NUV-HD-cryo Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) as the chosen photon sensors for its optical planes. Key SiPM properties such as dark noise rate, gain and direct crosstalk were measured using specialized test setups at 77 K. The photon detection efficiency (PDE) was measured under vacuum at 77 K over the wavelength range 350-820 nm. Secondary photon emission, which can give rise to external optical crosstalk, was measured under vacuum at 86 K over the wavelength range 550-1020 nm.
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2610.18223
Authors: Acerbi, F., Adhikari, P., Agnes, P., Ahmad, I., Albergo, S., Albuquerque, I. F., Alexander, T., Alton, A. K., Amaudruz, P., Anastasi, G. A., Angiolilli, M., Aprile, E., Auty, D. J., Pernas, M. Ave, Azzolini, O., Back, H. O., Balmforth, Z., Olmedo, A. Barrado, Barrillon, P., Batignani, G., Bharat, S., Bhowmick, P., Blua, S., Bocci, V., Bonivento, W., Bottino, B., Boulay, M. G., Braun, T., Buchowicz, A., Busto, J., Cadeddu, M., Cadoni, M., Calabrese, R., Calì, V. I., Caminata, A., Canci, N., Caravati, M., Cardenas-Montes, M., Cargioli, N., Carlini, M., Castellani, L., Castello, P., Cavalcante, D. F. F. S., Cavalcante, P., Cebrian, S., Chepurnov, A., Cifarelli, L., Coadou, Y., Coarasa, I., Cocco, V., Vilda, E. Conde, Consiglio, L., Coombes, H., Cortez, A. F. V., Costa, B. S., Silva, P. A. Costa e, Czubak, M., D'Auria, S., Rolo, M. D. Da Rocha, Dainty, A., Darbo, G., Davini, S., de Asmundis, R., De Cecco, S., De Napoli, M., Dellacasa, G., Derbin, A., Di Noto, L., Di Stefano, P., Mairena, D. Díaz, Dionisi, C., Dolganov, G., Dordei, F., Elersich, A., Ellingwood, E., Erjavec, T., Fearon, N., Diaz, M. Fernandez, Ferro, L., Ficorella, A., Fiorillo, G., Fleming, D., Flores, L., Franchini, P., Franco, D., Gatti, H. Frandini, Gabriele, F., Gahan, D., Galbiati, C., Galiński, G., Gallina, G., Garbini, M., Abia, P. Garcia, Gawdzik, A., Giovanetti, G. K., Gola, A., Grandi, L., Grauso, G., di Cortona, G. Grilli, Grobov, A., Gromov, M., Cánovas, J. Guerrero, Gulino, M., Habtemariam, S. B., Hackett, B. R., Hallin, A., Haranczyk, M., Hessel, T., Hidalgo, C., Hollingham, J., Horikawa, S., Hu, J., Hubaut, F., Huff, D., Hugues, T., Ianni, A., Ianni, A., Ippolito, V., Jamil, A., Jillings, C., Kachru, P., Keloth, R., Kemmerich, N., Kemp, A., Kondo, K., Korga, G., Kotsiopoulou, L., Koulosousas, S., Kunze, P., Kuss, M., Kuźniak, M., Kuzwa, M., Kwon, M. I., La Commara, M., Lai, M., Guirriec, E. Le, Leason, E., Leoni, A., Lidey, L., Lipp, J. D., Lippolis, L., Lissia, M., Luzzi, L., Lychagina, O., Macfadyen, O., Machts, J., Machulin, I., Mameli, S., Manecki, S., Manthos, I., Marasciulli, A., Mari, S. M., Mariani, C., Maricic, J., Martinez, M., Matteucci, G., Mavrokoridis, K., Mazzi, A., McDonald, A. B., Meng, L., Messina, A., Milincic, R., Miller, G., Minutoli, S., Mitra, A., Monroe, J., Morrocchi, M., Morsy, A., Muratova, V., Murra, M., Muscas, C., Musico, P., Nania, R., Nessi, M., Nieradka, G., Nikolopoulos, K., Nikoloudaki, E., Nowak, J., Olchanski, K., Oleinik, A., Organtini, P., de Solórzano, A. Ortiz, Padmanabhan, A., Pallavicini, M., Pandola, L., Pantic, E., Paoloni, E., Papi, D., Monreal, L. Parellada, Park, B., Pastuszak, G., Paternoster, G., Pavarani, R., Peck, A., Pegoraro, P. A., Pelczar, K., Perez, R., Pesudo, V., Piacentini, S., Pino, N., Plante, G., Pocar, A., Pordes, S., Pralavorio, P., Preosti, E., Price, D., Prior, G., Pronesti, M., Puglia, S., Bazetto, M. Queiroga, Raffaelli, F., Ragusa, F., Ramachers, Y., Ramirez, A., Ravinthiran, S., Raymond, K., Razeti, M., Renshaw, A. L., Repond, A., Rescigno, M., Resconi, S., Retiere, F., Ritchie-Yates, A., Rivetti, A., Roberts, A., Roberts, C., Rodas, D. Rodríguez, Rogers, G., Romero, L., Rossi, M., Rudik, D., Runge, J., Sabia, M., Salerno, C., Salomone, P., Samoylov, O., Sanfilippo, S., Santone, D., Santorelli, R., Santos, E. M., Sargeant, I., Sarsa, M. L., Savarese, C., Scapparone, E., Semenov, D., Seoane, C., Serrecchia, A., Sestu, M., Shalamova, V., Poudel, S. Sharma, Sheshukov, A., Simeone, M., Sitzia, D., Skensved, P., Skorokhvatov, M., Smirnov, O., Smirnova, T., Smith, B., Spadoni, F., Spangenberg, M., Steri, A., Stock, M. R., Stornelli, V., Stracka, S., Sung, A., Sunny, C., Suvorov, Y., Szelc, A. M., Taborda, O., Tam, B., Tartaglia, R., Taylor, A., Taylor, J., Testera, G., Thompson, A., Torres-Lara, S., Tricomi, A., Tullio, S., Unzhakov, E., Van Uffelen, M., Ventura, P., Díaz, G. Vera, Viel, S., Vishneva, A., Vogelaar, R. B., Vossebeld, J., Vyas, B., Wada, M., Walczak, M., Wang, Y., Westerdale, S., Williams, L., Wojcik, M. M., Wojcik, M., Xu, Z., Yin, J., Zabihi, A., Zakhary, P., Zani, A., Zhan, H., Zhang, Y., Zuzel, G.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Battelle, TRIUMF, Royal Society, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Narodowym Centrum Nauki, Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Office of Science, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Science and Technology Facilities Council, European Regional Development Fund, Labex UnivEarthS, Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules, Fermilab, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Awards: G125460123, G1323502114, G138090931, G154696372, G1571383463, Collaborative Research: Direct Search for Dark Matter with Underground Argon at LNGS, G1899721271, G1907584174, G2118643490, G2173752762, Collaborative Research: A Depleted Argon Detector for a Dark Matter Search, G2506945562, G2510423872, Astrocent Plus -- Particle Astrophysics Science and Technology Centre, Particle Astrophysics with Neutrinos and Weakly Interacting Dark Matter: Borexino and DarkSide, A Search for Weakly-Interacting Particle Dark Matter with DarkSide, G344234497, MRI: Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer for Multi-Disciplinary Research in South Dakota, G3610453240, G391136020, G442103306, CAREER: R&D for Future Noble-Liquid-Based Dark Matter Searches: Hybrid Photosensors and Intrinsic Background Rejection, G4656594441, G498139845, G5005429594, MAX - Multi-ton Argon and Xenon TPCs, G5182284376, G5321382714, G5616713406, G5653134238, G57182573, G5726405315, G585908603, G5903685324, G591121381, G603588730, Collaborative Research: R & D Toward DarkSide-G2, a Second-Generation Direct Search for Dark Matter, Collaborative Research: Direct Search for Dark Matter with Underground Argon at LNGS, G675437911, G7120904699, G716412294, G7560550554, G7573924778, G7665161096, G7806135606, G7913495243, The Outer Veto for the DarkSide-20k Dark Matter Search, Collaborative Research: Direct Search for Dark Matter with Underground Argon at LNGS, G8135867528, G821644656, G86560745, Earth - Planets - Universe: observation, modeling, transfer, G8905188957, G8930446, Collaborative Research: A Depleted Argon Detector for a Dark Matter Search
OpenAlex ID: W7221781612
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