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Title: Experiment to demonstrate separation of Cherenkov and scintillation signals

Journal Article · · Physical Review. C
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Physics Dept. ; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
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The ability to separately identify the Cherenkov and scintillation light components produced in scintillating mediums holds the potential for a major breakthrough in neutrino detection technology, allowing development of a large, low-threshold, directional detector with a broad physics program. The CHESS (CHErenkov/Scintillation Separation) experiment employs an innovative detector design with an array of small, fast photomultiplier tubes and state-of-the-art electronics to demonstrate the reconstruction of a Cherenkov ring in a scintillating medium based on photon hit time and detected photoelectron density. This paper describes the physical properties and calibration of CHESS along with first results. The ability to reconstruct Cherenkov rings is demonstrated in a water target, and a time precision of 338±12ps FWHM is achieved. Monte Carlo-based predictions for the ring imaging sensitivity with a liquid scintillator target predict an efficiency for identifying Cherenkov hits of 94±1% and 81±1% in pure linear alkyl benzene (LAB) and LAB loaded with 2 g/L of a fluor, PPO, respectively, with a scintillation contamination of 12±1% and 26±1%.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC00112704; AC02-05CH11231; AC02-98CH10886
OSTI ID:
1372444
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1355966; OSTI ID: 1429355
Report Number(s):
BNL-114029-2017-JA; PRVCAN; R&D Project: CO001; KB0401022
Journal Information:
Physical Review. C, Vol. 95, Issue 5; ISSN 2469-9985
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 29 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS