Journal Article

Neutrino physics with an opaque detector

Stanco, L., Breton, D., Gramlich, B., Maalmi, J., Simard, L., Porter, J. C. C., Calvo, E., Loaiza, P., Chen, M., Navas-Nicolás, D., Roskovec, B., Hartnell, J., Dusini, S., Abusleme, A., Bourgeois, C., Sisti, M., Palomares, C., Volpe, C., Chimenti, P., Suekane, F., Grassi, M., Obolensky, M., Roche, M., Dal Corso, F., Stutzmann, J.-S., Hugon, C., Manzanillas, L., Ortona, G., Govoni, P., Chauveau, E., Roy, N., Yermia, F., Cabrera, A., Han, Y., Pin, A., de Kerret, H., Martino, J., Pessina, F., dos Anjos, J., Serafini, A., Viaud, B., Le Nevé, A., Strati, V., Schoppmann, S., Verdugo, A., Jiménez, S., Marquet, C., Nunokawa, H., Bongrand, M., Ochoa-Ricoux, J. P., De Conto, G., Busto, J., Fiorentini, G., Pravikoff, M. S., Givaudan, A., Santos, C., Wagner, S., Buck, C., Martins, C. Frigerio, Mantovani, F., Vrignon, C., Bezerra, T. J. C.

2021

Overview

In 1956 Reines & Cowan discovered the neutrino using a liquid scintillator detector. The neutrinos interacted with the scintillator, producing light that propagated across transparent volumes to surrounding photo-sensors. This approach has remained one of the most widespread and successful neutrino detection technologies used since. This article introduces a concept that breaks with the conventional paradigm of transparency by confining and collecting light near its creation point with an opaque scintillator and a dense array of optical fibres. This technique, called LiquidO, can provide high-resolution imaging to enable efficient identification of individual particles event-by-event. A natural affinity for adding dopants at high concentrations is provided by the use of an opaque medium. With these and other capabilities, the potential of our detector concept to unlock opportunities in neutrino physics is presented here, alongside the results of the first experimental validation. Liquid scintillator detectors have been used to study neutrinos ever since their discovery in 1956. The authors introduce an opaque scintillator detector concept for future neutrino experiments with increased capacity for particle identification and a natural affinity for doping.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 639/766/419/1131 / 639/766/930/2735 / Affinity / Image resolution / Neutrinos / Optical fibers / Physics / Physics and Astronomy / Scintillation counters / Sensors