Improved quality tests of R11410-21 photomultiplier tubes for the XENONnT experiment

Abstract

Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) are often used in low-background particle physics experiments, which rely on an excellent response to single-photon signals and stable long-term operation. In particular, the Hamamatsu R11410 model is the light sensor of choice for liquid xenon dark matter experiments, including XENONnT. The same PMT model was also used for the predecessor, XENON1T, where issues affecting its long-term operation were observed. Here, we report on an improved PMT testing procedure which ensures optimal performance in XENONnT. Using both new and upgraded facilities, we tested 368 new PMTs in a cryogenic xenon environment. We developed new tests targeted at the detection of light emission and the degradation of the PMT vacuum through small leaks, which can lead to spurious signals known as afterpulses, both of which were observed in XENON1T. We exclude the use of 26 of the 368 tested PMTs and categorise the remainder according to their performance. Given that we have improved the testing procedure, yet we rejected fewer PMTs, we expect significantly better PMT performance in XENONnT.

18 pages, 14 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Projected WIMP Sensitivity of the XENONnT Dark Matter Experiment
• XENON1T Dark Matter Data Analysis: Signal & Background Models, and Statistical Inference
• Performance of the Hamamatsu R11410 Photomultiplier Tube in cryogenic Xenon Environments
• Qualification Tests of the R11410-21 Photomultiplier Tubes for the XENON1T Detector
• Measurement of single electron emission in two-phase xenon
• Qualification Tests of 474 Photomultiplier Tubes for the Inner Detector of the Double Chooz Experiment
• Measurement of the absolute Quantum Efficiency of Hamamatsu model R11410-10 photomultiplier tubes at low temperatures down to liquid xenon boiling point

Cited by in corpus (19)

• First Dark Matter Search with Nuclear Recoils from the XENONnT Experiment
• Search for New Physics in Electronic Recoil Data from XENONnT
• The XENONnT Dark Matter Experiment
• WIMP Dark Matter Search using a 3.1 Tonne-Year Exposure of the XENONnT Experiment
• The XLZD Design Book: Towards the Next-Generation Liquid Xenon Observatory for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics
• A semi-supervised approach to dark matter searches in direct detection data with machine learning
• The Triggerless Data Acquisition System of the XENONnT Experiment
• Detector signal characterization with a Bayesian network in XENONnT
• The upgraded low-background germanium counting facility Gator for high-sensitivity $\gamma$-ray spectrometry
• Design and construction of Xenoscope -- a full-scale vertical demonstrator for the DARWIN observatory
• Prospects of charge signal analyses in liquid xenon TPCs with proportional scintillation in the liquid phase
• Characterisation of signal-induced noise in Hamamatsu R11265 Multianode Photomultiplier Tubes
• First time-resolved measurement of infrared scintillation light in gaseous xenon
• Reduction of ${}^{222}$Rn-induced Backgrounds in a Hermetic Dual-Phase Xenon Time Projection Chamber
• Performance evaluation of the 8-inch MCP-PMT for Jinping Neutrino Experiment
• Characterisation of Hamamatsu R11065-20 PMTs for use in the SABRE South NaI(Tl) Crystal Detectors
• Challenging Spontaneous Quantum Collapse with XENONnT
• A LN2-based cryogenic system prototype for future PandaX experiment
• Probing the Solar ${}^8$B Neutrino Fog with XENONnT