Giulio Dellacasa | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

The Darkside-20k Data Acquisition System

DarkSide-20k is a WIMP search experiment using liquid argon as a target, designed to perform a background-free search for dark matter with unprecedented sensitivity, and is currently under construction at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. The detector comprises a dual-phase Time Projection Chamber complemented with external veto systems and is equipped with a total of 2720 SiPM-based readout channels. This work presents the DAQ system designed for DarkSide-20k. The system is capable of continuous, triggerless digitisation of the waveforms with high single-photoelectron detection efficiency and online processing, ensuring data reduction for long-term storage. The DarkSide-20k DAQ system employs commercial CAEN VX2745 digitisers with custom FPGA firmware implementation. Timing and synchronisation across all 48 digitisers are provided by custom Global and Crate Data Manager boards distributing a phase-aligned clock derived from a disciplined rubidium standard. Waveform segments are processed in real time by Front End Processor machines. Data are organised into collections containing whole detector information and distributed across a farm of Time Slice Processors for event reconstruction, classification, and further reduction before storage and offline analysis. A full "Quadrant" of the system, corresponding to one quarter of the final DAQ, has been assembled and validated at TRIUMF laboratory in Canada. The Quadrant has been stress-tested with simultaneous pulses and demonstrated sustained digitizer readout exceeding expected physics rates and stable long-term performance.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Performance results of the first version of the MIZAR ASIC for the PBR mission

The Multi-channel Intergrated Zone-sampling Analogue-memory based Readout (MIZAR) ASIC is a new type of front-end electronics which has been developed for the detection of the optical Cherenkov signals by Extensive Air Showers directly observed from sub-orbital and orbital altitudes. It sets the stage for a new generation of low-power consuming 64-channel Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). The ASIC is implemented in a commercial 65 nm CMOS technology to readout an 8$\times$8 matrix of Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs). The event is recorded at channel level in an array of 256 cells, each one equipped with an analogue memory, a 12-bits Wilkinson Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and latches running at a sampling rate of 200 MS/s. The converted data are sent off-chip to a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) which controls the digital end-of-column logic of the ASIC and implements the trigger logic. The goal is to employ it for the first time on the POEMMA Balloon with Radio (PBR) NASA mission which is devoted to measure Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) and perform neutrino astronomy from stratospheric altitudes through the detection of atmospheric Cherenkov light. The first version of the MIZAR ASIC has been sent to production and it is now under test at INFN Torino. The results of the preliminary tests related to the characterization of the chip are presented.

hep-ex↗