DarkSide-20K Photon-detector pre-production development

本提案是为与“低背景前沿硅光传感器开发”项目（ST/V001906/1）有关的前期制作工作提供桥梁资金。预供资金用于所附“DarkSide-UK桥接支持案例”中的项目1和2，其中包括准备工作：工作链1-工作包1 -任务1.1 -主提案的子任务环氧树脂芯片键合。完整提案摘要：该提案旨在利用英国世界领先的硅探测器集成能力，提高英国在大型硅光电倍增器（SiPM）阵列探测器方面的领导地位，背景物理学。低背景物理学实验解决了当今科学中一些最基本的悬而未决的问题：宇宙中的大部分物质是由什么组成的？暗物质如何与我们相互作用？为什么我们生活在物质主导的宇宙中在粒子物理学的宇宙和强度前沿研究这些问题的实验越来越多地使用充满液态惰性气体的探测器。当粒子相互作用时，液态贵金属会产生闪烁光，这种闪烁光由光电传感器探测器阵列探测到。硅探测器在能量前沿彻底改变了粒子物理学，在强度和宇宙前沿也越来越重要。暗物质和低能中微子物理学的主要挑战是最大限度地提高信号检测效率，同时实现超低的背景相互作用率。在液态惰性暗物质和中微子实验中，人们越来越多地达成共识，即硅光电倍增管（SiPM）探测器是应对这些挑战的关键技术。在最近的STFC暗物质战略评论中认识到了发展英国在这一领域领导地位的重要性：“为未来使用惰性气体的大规模直接DM搜索开发SiPM为英国提供了投资早期研发的机会，以便在任何未来的下一代实验中实现技术领导地位。研发将集中于设计、生产和测试包括电子产品在内的大型硅永磁瓦阵列。“这项提案的重点是设计，生产和测试大型硅永磁瓦阵列，包括电子产品。目前，用于低背景实验的大型SiPM瓦阵列集成的最先进技术是暗面光子探测器模块（PDM）。PDM由一系列约1 cm 2的SiPM（“瓦片”）组成，这些SiPM粘合到基板上，形成25 cm 2的光敏区域，连接到低温前端电子设备上，这些电子设备将来自所有瓦片的信号联合收割机组合起来，并对其进行调节。研发：我们将开发新的集成和读出策略，以减少放射性，并扩大未来实验的物理范围，可能在博尔比地下实验室托管;2.知识交流：利用在全球氩暗物质合作组织和世界领先的英国设施中积累的知识，我们将开发生产工艺和专业知识，以制造和测试改进的、低背景的PDM;能力建设：通过为DarkSide外层探测器的一个子系统生产PDM，展示了为全球下一代液态惰性气体实验建造和测试PDM的能力。为了执行这个雄心勃勃的计划，我们汇集了一个为大型强子对撞机和天基实验建造硅探测器的专家团队，推动超低放射性前沿的暗物质和中微子物理实验学家，以及理论家们在仪器进步的基础上拓展新物理学研究的视野。

This proposal is for Bridge funding for pre-production work linked to the project "Silicon Photosensor Development for the Low-Background Frontier" (ST/V001906/1). The pre-funding is for items 1 and 2 in the attached "DarkSide-UK Bridging Case For Support", which cover work to be done in preparation for: Work Strand 1- Work package 1 - Task 1.1 - sub-task Epoxy Die Bonding of the main proposal.Summary of the full proposal:This proposal aims to leverage the UK's world-leading silicon detector integration capability to grow UK leadership in large silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM) array detectors for low-background physics.Low background physics experiments address some of the most fundamental open questions in science today: what is most of the matter in the universe made of? how does dark matter interact with us? why do we live in a matter-dominated universe? Experiments studying these questions at the cosmic and intensity frontiers of particle physics increasingly employ detectors filled with liquid noble gases. Liquid nobles produce scintillation light when particles interact, which is detected with arrays of photo-sensor detectors.Silicon detectors have revolutionised particle physics at the energy frontier, and are increasingly important at the intensity and cosmic frontiers. The major challenge in dark matter and low-energy neutrino physics is to maximise signal detection efficiency whilst achieving ultra-low background interaction rates. There is a growing consensus across liquid noble dark matter and neutrino experiments that silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM) detectors are the key enabling technology to meet these challenges. The importance of developing UK leadership in this area was recognised in the recent STFC Dark Matter Strategic Review:"The development of SiPMs for future large-scale direct-DM searches using noble gases provides the opportunity for the UK to invest in early R&D in order to achieve technological leadership in any future next generation experiment. R&D would focus on the design, production and testing of large SiPM tile arrays including electronics."This proposal focuses on the design, production and testing of large SiPM tile arrays including electronics. The state-of-the-art in integration of large SiPM tile arrays for low-background experiments today is the DarkSide photon detector module (PDM). The PDM consists of an array of ~1 cm2 SiPMs ('tiles') bonded to a substrate to form a 25 cm2 photosensitive area, connected to cryogenic front end electronics that combine the signal from all tiles and condition it. This proposal aims to develop technological leadership for the future through:1. R&D: on developing tiled Si array detectors for low-background experiments beyond the current state-of-the-art. We will develop new integration and readout strategies to reduce radioactivity and expand the physics reach of future experiments, potentially hosted at Boulby Underground Laboratory;2. Knowledge Exchange: leveraging knowledge built up in the Global Argon Dark Matter Collaboration and world-leading UK facilities, we will develop production processes and expertise to manufacture and test improved, lower-background PDMs; and,3. Capacity building: demonstrating capacity to build and test PDMs for the global next-generation liquid noble gas experiment through producing PDMs for a sub-system of DarkSide's outer detector.To execute this ambitious programme we bring together a team of experts that have built silicon detectors for the Large Hadron Collider and space-based experiments, dark matter and neutrino physics experimentalists pushing the frontiers of ultra-low radioactivity, and theorists expanding the horizons for new physics searches based on advances in instrumentation.