Characterization of UV-enhanced SiPMs for imaging in a high pressure xenon electroluminescent TPC

The possibility of recording charged particle tracks in an electroluminescent xenon gas TPC is investigated using a SiPM-based tracking system, operated in the demonstrator prototype of the NEXT-100 ββ decay experiment. The tracks of the ββ0ν events from the decay of the ¹³⁶Xe isotope have a distinctive topology, which allows their discrimination against single-electron events from the natural radioactivity that populates the region of interest of the neutrinoless decay in the ββ energy spectrum. Combined to the near-intrinsic energy resolution of the gaseous detector, this tracking capability provides a powerful background rejection tool for the search of the neutrinoless ββ decay aimed by the experiment. The NEXT-100 detector concepts and sensitivity and the first results of its demonstrator prototype are presented. The characterization studies relevant for the operation of UV-enhanced SiPMs used for imaging in an electroluminescent TPC are reviewed.