Construction and characterisation of the DarkSide-20k veto silicon photo-multiplier tiles

Abstract Silicon photo-multipliers (SiPMs) are state-of-the-art sensors capable of detecting a single photoelectron under cryogenic conditions, with potentially lower radioactivity than widely used photomultiplier tubes. The DarkSide-20k experiment, designed to perform direct dark matter searches using liquid argon as the target material, employs SiPM technology to detect interactions in the active detector volumes, including the central dual-phase Time Projection Chamber and the Inner and Outer Veto volumes. The vetoes are designed to discriminate against radiogenic neutron and cosmic muon backgrounds associated with the dark matter search. This paper describes the completed production and test protocols for the “Veto Tiles” (called vTiles , arrays of 24 SiPMs integrated on a printed circuit board providing the power distribution and signal amplification); 16 vTiles are grouped into “Veto Photo-Detector Units” to instrument the Inner Veto volume. Each vTile underwent detailed testing at room and cryogenic temperatures, confirming stable operation, high signal-to-noise ratio, and low radioactive contamination, demonstrating the robustness of the proposed design for cryogenic conditions. The final production yield exceeded 87%, surpassing the 80% requirement and corresponding to 1920 Veto Tiles to populate 120 Veto Photo-Detector Units, plus an additional 6% as spares.

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Publication Details

Journal
The European Physical Journal C
Published
2026-09-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16217-7
Primary Topic
Silicon Nanostructures and Photoluminescence
Type
article
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article

Construction and characterisation of the DarkSide-20k veto silicon photo-multiplier tiles

M. Cadeddu, O. Azzolini, T. Erjavec, I. Coarasa et al.
The European Physical Journal C
Silicon Nanostructures and Photoluminescence
article

Construction and characterisation of the DarkSide-20k veto silicon photo-multiplier tiles

M. Cadeddu, O. Azzolini, T. Erjavec, I. Coarasa, P. Agnes, Luca Ferro, Marta Fernández Díaz, Alessio Caminata, Zoe Balmforth, Michele Angiolilli, C. Galbiati, Paolo Castello, E. Ellingwood, M. Garbini, S. D’Auria, S. Cebrián, G. Dolganov, Ana Isabel Barrado Olmedo, D. J. Auty, M. De Napoli, L. Cifarelli, Pritindra Bhowmick, Marco Carlini, S. Albergo, Pushparaj Adhikari, Alexey Grobov, G. Dellacasa, Yann Coadou, Manuel Dionisio Da Rocha Rolo, Mark G. Boulay, Andre Filipe Ventura Cortez, Daniel Diaz Mairena, Henning Olling Back, Giovanni Darbo, Graham Kurt Giovanetti, Andrew Knight Alton, Titanilla Braun, Milena Czubak, Thomas Olling Alexander, Maximo Ave Pernas, Gioacchino Alex Anastasi, Valerio Bocci, Mariano Cadoni, Sofia Blua, Barbara S Costa, Grzegorz Galinski, Michael Bedard, Alexander Dainty, Jose Busto, Estefania Conde Vilda, Andrea Ficorella, Pierre-Andre Amaudruz, Andrzej Gawdzik, Lucia Consiglio, Vincenzo Camillo, Sandro de Cecco, Giuliana Fiorillo, Mauro Caravati, Maxim Gromov, Paolo Cavalcante, Alexander Chepurnov, Sarthak Choudhary, Lea Di Noto, Francesca Dordei, Giacomo Gallina, Pierre Barrillon, Harrison Coombes, Dylon Fleming, Iftikhar Ahmad, Elena Aprile, Giovanni Batignani, Gianfrancesco Grauso, Nicola Canci, Heriques Frandini Gatti, Aaron Elersich, Pablo Garcia Abia, Roberta Calabrese, Paolo Franchini, Bianca Bottino, Philippe Di Stefano, Miguel Cardenas-Montes, Valentina Cocco, Devidutta Gahan, Nicola Cargioli, Riccardo De Asmundis, Severino Bussino, Luca Grandi, Niamh Fearon, Carlo Dionisi, Fabio Acerbi, Davide Franco, Walter Bonivento, Swadheen Bharat, Alberto Gola, Giovanni Grilli Di Cortona, Federico Gabriele, Andrzej Buchowicz, Alexander Derbin, Stefano Davini, Ivone F.M Albuquerque
article en

Abstract

Abstract Silicon photo-multipliers (SiPMs) are state-of-the-art sensors capable of detecting a single photoelectron under cryogenic conditions, with potentially lower radioactivity than widely used photomultiplier tubes. The DarkSide-20k experiment, designed to perform direct dark matter searches using liquid argon as the target material, employs SiPM technology to detect interactions in the active detector volumes, including the central dual-phase Time Projection Chamber and the Inner and Outer Veto volumes. The vetoes are designed to discriminate against radiogenic neutron and cosmic muon backgrounds associated with the dark matter search. This paper describes the completed production and test protocols for the “Veto Tiles” (called vTiles , arrays of 24 SiPMs integrated on a printed circuit board providing the power distribution and signal amplification); 16 vTiles are grouped into “Veto Photo-Detector Units” to instrument the Inner Veto volume. Each vTile underwent detailed testing at room and cryogenic temperatures, confirming stable operation, high signal-to-noise ratio, and low radioactive contamination, demonstrating the robustness of the proposed design for cryogenic conditions. The final production yield exceeded 87%, surpassing the 80% requirement and corresponding to 1920 Veto Tiles to populate 120 Veto Photo-Detector Units, plus an additional 6% as spares.

The European Physical Journal CVol. 86(9)
University of Pisa (IT), Warsaw University of Technology (PL), Roma Tre University (IT), Jagiellonian University (PL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US), University of Liverpool (GB), Augustana University (US), University of Alberta (CA), Universität Hamburg (DE), University of Cagliari (IT), Politecnico di Torino (IT), Universidade de São Paulo (BR), University of Milan (IT), Princeton University (US), Queen's University (CA), Williams College (US), Fondazione Bruno Kessler (IT), Universidad de Zaragoza (ES), Savannah River National Laboratory (US), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (IT), Laboratoire AstroParticule et Cosmologie (FR), University of Manchester (GB), University of Catania (IT), University of Oxford (GB), University of Chicago (US), Research Complex at Harwell (GB), Centre de physique des particules de Marseille (FR), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli (IT), Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Catania (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Genova (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano (IT), Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center (PL), ORCID (US), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna (IT), Gran Sasso Science Institute (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa (IT), Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (ES), Centro de Astropartículas y Física de Altas Energías (ES), Carleton University (CA), University of Naples Federico II (IT), Columbia University (US), University of Genoa (IT), University of California, Davis (US), Virginia Tech (US), Sapienza University of Rome (IT), University of Bologna (IT), University of Edinburgh (GB)
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Silicon Nanostructures and Photoluminescence
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