Abstract
The SoLid experiment, short for Search for Oscillations with a Lithium-6 detector, is a new generation neutrino experiment which tries to address the key challenges for high precision reactor neutrino measurements at very short distances from a reactor core and with little or no overburden. The primary goal of the SoLid experiment is to perform a precise measurement of the electron antineutrino energy spectrum and flux and to search for very short distance neutrino oscillations as a probe of eV-scale sterile neutrinos. This paper describes the SoLid detection principle, the mechanical design and the construction of the detector. It then reports on the installation and commissioning on site near the BR2 reactor, Belgium, and finally highlights its performance in terms of detector response and calibration.
Highlights
Sterile neutrinos, originally introduced by Bruno Pontecorvo in 1967 [1], are well-motivated in many extensions of the Standard Model as they appear in most of the possible mechanisms to explain neutrino masses
Originally introduced by Bruno Pontecorvo in 1967 [1], are well-motivated in many extensions of the Standard Model as they appear in most of the possible mechanisms to explain neutrino masses. Apart from these theoretical considerations, the first hints appeared from accelerator-based neutrino experiments, LSND MiniBoone, which have observed persistent anomalies, in electron neutrino appearance and muon neutrino disappearance [2, 3]
The nature of the neutron capture reaction and the longer scintillation decay time of 10 microseconds for the 6LiF:ZnS(Ag) scintillator allows for a pulse shape discrimination between signals induced in the neutron detection screens via nuclear interaction, hereafter denoted as NS, and signals induced via electromagnetic processes in the polyvinyl toluene (PVT), denoted as ES
Summary
Originally introduced by Bruno Pontecorvo in 1967 [1], are well-motivated in many extensions of the Standard Model as they appear in most of the possible mechanisms to explain neutrino masses. Though some tensions persist when combining both LSND and MiniBoone results with reactor measurements, no phenomenological models are known to better fit all the data than those adding sterile neutrinos at a mass scale of order 1 eV2 [10, 11] The search for such a sterile neutrino provides a clear motivation to measure the neutrino fluxes and spectra with dedicated experiments at very short baselines near nuclear reactors [12]. Compared to the contemporary very-short baseline neutrino experiments near reactors [13,14,15,16, 32], the SoLid detector has some unique features, which are described extensively in [33] It uses a finely 3D segmented plastic scintillator to detect electromagnetic energy deposits, combined with scintillation screens that contain 6Li that provide distinct nuclear induced signals. This paper describes the detector commissioning, calibration and measurement stability for the first two years of data taking, covering the period July 2018 - August 2019
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