Speaker
Description
Liquid xenon time projection chambers (LXe-TPCs) have set leading limits on dark matter scattering over the past two decades. These have so far employed low-background photomultiplier tubes to detect the xenon VUV luminescence. With SiPMs now yielding competitive photon detection performance in the VUV, the possibility of using this technology in the next generation of experiments is becoming more realistic, at least in some parts of the experiment. An outline of the design of a prototype array of sensors for the Xenia LXe-TPC being built at Imperial is discussed. The design is driven in particular by the requirements to achieve high spatial resolution and potential for ultra-low radioactive backgrounds, and will provide a test-bed for the development of end-to-end signal chains. Our more immediate aim is to explore possibilities for track-topology resolution in liquid xenon, in particular in conjunction with hydrogen-doping, which may help decrease gamma-ray backgrounds in neutrinoless double-beta decay searches in Xe-136
