Abstract
Three-dimensional finely grained plastic scintillator detectors bring many advantages in particle detectors, allowing a massive active target which enables a high-precision tracking of interaction products, excellent calorimetry and a sub-nanosecond time resolution. Whilst such detectors can be scaled up to several-tonnes, as required by future neutrino experiments, a relatively long production time, where each single plastic-scintillator element is independently manufactured and machined, together with potential challenges in the assembly, complicates their realisation. In this manuscript we propose a novel design for 3D granular scintillator detectors where O(1 cm3) cubes are efficiently glued in a single block of scintillator after being produced via cast polymerization, which can enable rapid and cost-efficient detector construction. This work could become particularly relevant for the detectors of the next-generation long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiments, such as DUNE, Hyper-Kamiokande and ESSnuSB.
Highlights
Corresponding author allows detection of low-energy protons and pions
A useful feature of organic scintillator for accelerator-based neutrino experiments is that the low mass carbon and hydrogen nuclei allow a relatively easy detection of the fast neutrons which are often produced in neutrino interactions
Overall the features of organic scintillator detectors allow the necessary tracking and calorimetry performance to make them invaluable tools in the effort to better characterise neutrino interactions [16]
Summary
Corresponding author allows detection of low-energy protons and pions. In order to enhance the particle energy loss resolution, the scintillator 3D segmentation is provided by an optical reflector so that the scintillation light is trapped within a single scintillator volume and captured by wavelength-shifting (WLS) fibers. Overall the features of organic scintillator detectors allow the necessary tracking and calorimetry performance to make them invaluable tools in the effort to better characterise neutrino interactions [16] This in turn allows experiments to confront some of the most important and challenging systematic uncertainties faced by current and future accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments in their searches for leptonic CP violation and analyses of the neutrino mass hierarchy [17]. The few-million optically-isolated scintillator cubes must be individually produced, treated to produce a thin white reflector layer, drilled on three orthogonal faces to make holes for the WLS fibers, and individually placed inside a mechanical box Such a construction procedure is time consuming both in the production and assembly steps. Compiling a matrix of many millions of single cubes may cause stack up tolerance issues, that must be taken into account in the detector design
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
