CERN Accelerating science

Article
Report number	CERN-EP-2002-006
Title	Large liquid-scintillator trackers for neutrino experiments
Author(s)	Benussi, L ; Bruski, N ; D'Ambrosio, N ; Déclais, Y ; Dupraz, J P ; Fabre, Jean-Paul ; Fanti, V ; Forton, E ; Frekers, D ; Frenkel, A ; Girerd, C ; Golovkin, S V ; Grégoire, G ; Harrison, K ; Jonkmans, G ; Jonsson, P ; Katsanevas, S ; Kreslo, I ; Marteau, J ; Martellotti, G ; Martínez, S ; Medvedkov, A M ; Moret, G ; Niwa, K ; Novikov, V ; Van Beek, G ; Penso, G ; Vasilchenko, V G ; Vuilleumier, J L ; Wilquet, G ; Zucchelli, P
Affiliation	(IIHE, ULB-VUB, Bruxelles) ; (Univ. Federico II and INFN, Napoli) ; (Westfälische Wilhelms-Univ., Münster) ; (Univ. Claude Bernard, Lyon) ; (CERN) ; (Univ. Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve) ; (Univ. La Sapienza and INFN, Roma) ; (IHEP, Protvino) ; (Univ. Neuchatel) ; (JINR, Dubna) ; (Nagoya Univ.)
Publication	2002
Imprint	14 Jan 2002
Number of pages	20
In:	Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., A 488 (2002) 503-516
DOI	10.1016/S0168-9002(02)00516-8
Subject category	Detectors and Experimental Techniques
Accelerator/Facility, Experiment	CERN SPS ; OPERA CNGS1 RD46
Abstract	Results are given on tests of large particle trackers for the detection of neutrino interactions in long-baseline experiments. Module prototypes have been assembled using TiO$_2$-doped polycarbonate panels. These were subdivided into cells of $\sim 1$ cm$^2$ cross section and 6 m length, filled with liquid scintillator. A wavelength-shifting fibre inserted in each cell captured a part of the scintillation light emitted when a cell was traversed by an ionizing particle. Two different fibre-readout systems have been tested: an optoelectronic chain comprising an image intensifier and an Electron Bombarded CCD (EBCCD); and a hybrid photodiode (HPD). New, low-cost liquid scintillators have been investigated for applications in large underground detectors. Testbeam studies have been performed using a commercially available liquid scintillator. The number of detected photoelectrons for minimum-ionizing particles crossing a module at different distances from the fibre readout end was 6 to 12 with the EBCCD chain and a mirror at the non-readout end; 4 to 10 with the HPD and no mirror. The light-attenuation lengths in the fibres were $\sim 9.4$ m with the EBCCD and $\sim 6.4$ m with the HPD. The detector response to electron showers has also been measured. After 10 radiation lengths of lead, the transverse position of the incoming electron was determined with a precision of a few millimeters for electrons of 4 GeV, and with a \hbox{precision of 1.5$-$2.0 cm for electrons of 1 GeV.}

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Email contact: Sandrine.Sciarrino@cern.ch