Readout electronics and data acquisition system of PandaX-4T experiment

TL;DR

This paper describes a new triggerless readout electronics and data acquisition system for the PandaX-4T dark matter detector, improving data recording efficiency and bandwidth compared to previous systems.

Contribution

Introduction of a triggerless, high-bandwidth data acquisition system for PandaX-4T, enhancing dark matter search capabilities and data quality.

Findings

Achieved 96% single photoelectron detection efficiency.

Bandwidth of over 450 MB/s during operation.

Successfully used in commissioning runs.

Abstract

PandaX-4T is a dark matter direct detection experiment located in China jinping underground laboratory. The central apparatus is a dual-phase xenon detector containing 4 ton liquid xenon in the sensitive volume, with about 500 photomultipliers instrumented in the top and the bottom of the detector. In this paper we present a completely new system of readout electronics and data acquisition in the PandaX-4T experiment. Compared to the one used in the previous PandaX dark matter experiments, the new system features triggerless readout and higher bandwidth. With triggerless readout, dark matter searches are not affected by the efficiency loss of external triggers. The system records single photelectron signals of the dominant PMTs with an average efficiency of 96\%, and achieves the bandwidth of more than 450 MB/s. The system has been used to successfully acquire data during the commissioning runs of PandaX-4T.