Eur. Phys. J. C (2025) 85: 1334
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-025-14940-1

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Production, quality assurance and quality control of the SiPM Tiles for the DarkSide-20k Time Projection Chamber

¹ Fondazione Bruno Kessler, 38123, Povo, Italy
² Department of Physics, Carleton University, K1S 5B6, Ottawa, ON, Canada
³ Gran Sasso Science Institute, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy
⁴ INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, 67100, Assergi, AQ, Italy
⁵ AstroCeNT, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-614, Warsaw, Poland
⁶ INFN Catania, 95121, Catania, Italy
⁷ Università of Catania, 95124, Catania, Italy
⁸ Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil
⁹ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 99352, Richland, WA, USA
¹⁰ Physics Department, Augustana University, 57197, Sioux Falls, SD, USA
¹¹ TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, V6T 2A3, Vancouver, BC, Canada
¹² Physics Department, Columbia University, 10027, New York, NY, USA
¹³ INFN Cagliari, 09042, Cagliari, Italy
¹⁴ Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, 09042, Cagliari, Italy
¹⁵ Department of Physics, University of Alberta, T6G 2R3, Edmonton, AB, Canada
¹⁶ Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, 125047, Moscow, Russia
¹⁷ INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, 35020, Legnaro, Padova, Italy
¹⁸ Savannah River National Laboratory, 29831, Jackson, SC, USA
¹⁹ Department of Physics, Royal Holloway University of London, TW20 0EX, Egham, UK
²⁰ CIEMAT, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, 28040, Madrid, Spain
²¹ Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France
²² INFN Pisa, 56127, Pisa, Italy
²³ Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Pisa, 56127, Pisa, Italy
²⁴ University of Oxford, OX1 2JD, Oxford, UK
²⁵ INFN Torino, 10125, Turin, Italy
²⁶ Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129, Turin, Italy
²⁷ INFN Sezione di Roma, 00185, Rome, Italy
²⁸ Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Genova, 16146, Genoa, Italy
²⁹ INFN Genova, 16146, Genoa, Italy
³⁰ Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Politecnico di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy
³¹ INFN Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy
³² Institute of Radioelectronics and Multimedia Technology, Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-661, Warsaw, Poland
³³ INFN Roma Tre, 00146, Rome, Italy
³⁴ INFN Napoli, 80126, Naples, Italy
³⁵ Virginia Tech, 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA
³⁶ Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, 09123, Cagliari, Italy
³⁷ Centro de Astropartículas y Física de Altas Energías, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain
³⁸ Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234, Moscow, Russia
³⁹ INFN Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy
⁴⁰ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Università degli Studi di Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy
⁴¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Laurentian University, P3E 2C6, Sudbury, ON, Canada
⁴² SNOLAB, P3Y 1N2, Lively, ON, Canada
⁴³ Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy
⁴⁴ M. Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, 30-348, Krakow, Poland
⁴⁵ Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, 80126, Naples, Italy
⁴⁶ Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy
⁴⁷ Physics Department, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185, Rome, Italy
⁴⁸ Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering Department “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy
⁴⁹ Saint Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, 188350, Gatchina, Russia
⁵⁰ Physics Department, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, 80126, Naples, Italy
⁵¹ Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen’s University, K7L 3N6, Kingston, ON, Canada
⁵² Physics Department, Princeton University, 08544, Princeton, NJ, USA
⁵³ National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, 123182, Moscow, Russia
⁵⁴ Radiation Physics Laboratory, Belgorod National Research University, 308007, Belgorod, Russia
⁵⁵ Department of Physics, University of California, 95616, Davis, CA, USA
⁵⁶ Physics Department, Lancaster University, LA1 4YB, Lancaster, UK
⁵⁷ APC, Université de Paris, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, 75013, Paris, France
⁵⁸ Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, The Oliver Lodge Laboratory, L69 7ZE, Liverpool, UK
⁵⁹ Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia
⁶⁰ Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi, 00184, Rome, Italy
⁶¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK
⁶² Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zurich, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland
⁶³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Williams College, 01267, Williamstown, MA, USA
⁶⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawai’i, 96822, Honolulu, HI, USA
⁶⁵ Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, 60637, Chicago, IL, USA
⁶⁶ INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, 95123, Catania, Italy
⁶⁷ Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
⁶⁸ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, Edinburgh, UK
⁶⁹ Department of Physics, University of Houston, 77204, Houston, TX, USA
⁷⁰ Pharmacy Department, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, 80131, Naples, Italy
⁷¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, 92507, Riverside, CA, USA
⁷² Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980, Dubna, Russia
⁷³ National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, 115409, Moscow, Russia
⁷⁴ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT, Birmingham, UK
⁷⁵ Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
⁷⁶ Physics Department, Temple University, 19122, Philadelphia, PA, USA
⁷⁷ Department of Physics, University of Warwick, CV47AL, Coventry, UK
⁷⁸ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, 00186, Rome, Italy
⁷⁹ Amherst Center for Fundamental Interactions and Physics Department, University of Massachusetts, 01003, Amherst, MA, USA
⁸⁰ Chemical, Materials, and Industrial Production Engineering Department, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, 80126, Naples, Italy
⁸¹ Department of Mechanical, Chemical, and Materials Engineering, Università degli Studi, 09042, Cagliari, Italy
⁸² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
⁸³ Physics and Astronomy Department, University of California, 90095, Los Angeles, CA, USA
⁸⁴ Department of Physics and Engineering, Fort Lewis College, 81301, Durango, CO, USA
⁸⁵ Institute of Applied Radiation Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, 93-590, Lodz, Poland
⁸⁶ Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Technology, Harwell Oxford, OX11 0QX, Didcot, UK
⁸⁷ Engineering and Architecture Department, Università di Enna Kore, 94100, Enna, Italy
⁸⁸ Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Particle Physics Department, Harwell Oxford, OX11 0QX, Didcot, UK
⁸⁹ Department of Mathematics and Physics, Roma Tre University, 00146, Rome, Italy
⁹⁰ Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, and Department of Physics, University of Washington, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA

^a ds-ed@lists.infn.it

Received: 9 July 2025
Accepted: 13 October 2025
Published online: 20 November 2025

Abstract

The DarkSide-20k dark matter direct detection experiment will employ a $21{\text{m}}^2$ silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array, instrumenting a dual-phase 50 tonnes liquid argon Time Projection Chamber (TPC). SiPMs are arranged into modular photosensors called Tiles, each integrating 24 SiPMs onto a printed circuit board (PCB) that provides signal amplification, power distribution, and a single-ended output for simplified readout. $16$ Tiles are further grouped into Photo-Detector Units (PDUs). This paper details the production of the Tiles and the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA-QC) protocol established to ensure their performance and uniformity. The production and QA-QC of the Tiles are carried out at Nuova Officina Assergi (NOA), an ISO-6 clean room facility at LNGS. This process includes wafer-level cryogenic characterisation, precision die attaching, wire bonding, and extensive electrical and optical validation of each Tile. The overall production yield exceeds 83.5%, matching the requirements of the DarkSide-20k production plan. These results validate the robustness of the Tile design and its suitability for operation in a cryogenic environment.