Commissioning of the 2.6 m tall two-phase xenon time projection chamber of Xenoscope

TL;DR

The paper details the construction and commissioning of a large two-phase xenon TPC for Xenoscope, aiming to demonstrate electron drift, measure diffusion, and study optical properties in a next-generation astroparticle physics detector.

Contribution

It presents the design, construction, and initial commissioning results of a 2.6 m tall xenon TPC, a novel demonstrator for future large-scale xenon-based observatories.

Findings

Successful observation of light and charge signals with cosmic muons

Demonstration of electron drift over 2.6 m in liquid xenon

Measurement of optical properties of the medium

Abstract

Xenoscope is a demonstrator for a next-generation xenon-based observatory for astroparticle physics, as proposed by the XLZD (XENON-LUX-ZEPLIN-DARWIN) collaboration. It houses a 2.6 m tall, two-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC), in a cryostat filled with $\sim$ 360 kg of liquid xenon. The main goals of the facility are to demonstrate electron drift in liquid xenon over this distance, to measure the electron cloud transversal and longitudinal diffusion, as well as the optical properties of the medium. In this work, we describe in detail the construction and commissioning of the TPC and report on the observation of light and charge signals with cosmic muons.