LIDINE 2025: LIght Detection In Noble Elements

Proto-0: a prototype for validating key technologies of the DarkSide-20k experiment and beyond.

21 Oct 2025, 16:20

20m

Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers

Oral Presentation Detector techniques (HV, purification, cryogenics, calibration etc.) Detector techniques

Speaker

Giuseppe Matteucci (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)

Description

Within the DarkSide Program, which aims at the direct detection of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), the DarkSide-20k experiment is currently under construction at LNGS. It is based on a next-generation dual-phase liquid argon Time Projection Chamber (TPC). The Proto-0 project, currently running at the DarkMatter facility in Naples (Italy), was designed to demonstrate the viability of key design aspects proposed for DarkSide-20k, such as light readout using low-background Photodetector Units (PDUs) based on cryogenic SiPMs and the use of innovative bulk materials.
Moreover, in the Proto-0 TPC the geometry can be modified during operation, for studying the formation of the secondary signal in the gaseous phase under different boundary conditions. This aspect is critical for instance to optimize the setting of a dual-phase liquid-argon TPC that aims at low-mass WIMPs detection.In this talk, we present the Proto-0 detector along with its main ancillary systems, together with the key results obtained and the lessons learned.