The DarkSide-20k experiment will perform a comprehensive search for high-mass WIMPs using a dual phase argon time projection chamber (TPC) located in the Gran Sasso National Laboratories (LNGS), in Italy. DarkSide-20k is planned to run for ten years, accumulating a total exposure of 200 t yr, and will have sensitivity to a WIMP-nucleon cross-section of 7.4 x 10^-48 cm² for 1 TeV/c² WIMPs.

In order to achieve this sensitivity, the DS-20k detector will be constructed from ultra-low back-ground materials and employ techniques to actively identify background events. The scintillating liquid argon target used in the TPC will be low-radioactivity argon extracted from an underground source.

The argon scintillation light will be detected by cryogenic silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) that have been designed to maximize blue photon detection efficiency while minimizing background. The TPC will be surrounded by an active liquid argon veto housed inside of a membrane cryostat. The veto will consist of two volumes of liquid argon separated by a thin layer of gadolinium-doped ultra-high purity acrylic (poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA) and instrumented with cryogenic SiPMs.

The seminar will describe the DarkSide-20k scientific goal, focusing then on the detector design and in particular on the veto detector features

Via Zoom: https://princeton.zoom.us/j/93083884770