A flexible test facility for liquid xenon detector development

TL;DR

This paper presents a versatile test facility for liquid xenon detectors, enabling development, characterization, and testing of various components and techniques crucial for large-scale xenon-based experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a flexible, automated cryo-cooling test facility with improved stability and safety features, supporting multiple applications in liquid xenon detector development.

Findings

Enhanced temperature and pressure stability due to immersion cooling

Successful characterization of sensor arrays and purification techniques

Demonstrated operational safety and efficiency improvements

Abstract

As liquid xenon time projection chambers scale to ever-larger sizes, so too do the engineering challenges they pose. We describe a large, flexible, multipurpose test facility capable of supporting the development of a number of key aspects of liquid xenon detector systems. Example applications of this facility include characterization of large-area light and charge sensor arrays, tests of xenon purification techniques and materials compatibility, and investigations into high-voltage phenomena. This facility uses an automated and remotely monitored cryo-cooling system based on immersion of the test chamber in a liquid bath rather than conductive coupling, leading to advantages in temperature and pressure stability, as well as increasing required response times in the case of cooling-power loss. Design advantages, operational procedures, and performance of the facility are described, as well as five examples of liquid xenon test chambers that use the facility.