88 research outputs found
Scintillator manufacture at Fermilab
A decade of research into plastic scintillation materials at Fermilab is reviewed. Early work with plastic optical fiber fabrication is revisited and recent experiments with large-scale commercial methods for production of bulk scintillator are discussed. Costs for various forms of scintillator are examined and new development goals including cost reduction methods and quality improvement techniques are suggested
Photodegradation Mechanisms of Tetraphenyl Butadiene Coatings for Liquid Argon Detectors
We report on studies of degradation mechanisms of tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB)
coatings of the type used in neutrino and dark matter liquid argon experiments.
Using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry we have detected the
ultraviolet-blocking impurity benzophenone (BP). We monitored the drop in
performance and increase of benzophenone concentration in TPB plates with
exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light, and demonstrate the correlation between
these two variables. Based on the presence and initially exponential increase
in the concentration of benzophenone observed, we propose that TPB degradation
is a free radical-mediated photooxidation reaction, which is subsequently
confirmed by displaying delayed degradation using a free radical inhibitor.
Finally we show that the performance of wavelength-shifting coatings of the
type envisioned for the LBNE experiment can be improved by 10-20%, with
significantly delayed UV degradation, by using a 20% admixture of
4-tert-Butylcatechol.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to JINS
Extruded scintillator for the Calorimetry applications
An extrusion line has been installed and successfully operated at FNAL (Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory) in collaboration with NICADD (Northern Illinois Center for Accelerator and Detector
Development). This new Facility will serve to further develop and improve extruded plastic scintillator.
Recently progress has been made in producing co-extruded plastic scintillator, thus increasing the
potential HEP applications of this Facility. The current R&D work with extruded and co-extruded
plastic scintillator for a potential ALICE upgrade, the ILC calorimetry program and the MINERvA
experiment show the attractiveness of the chosen strategy for future experiments and calorimetry. We
extensively discuss extruded and co-extruded plastic scintillator in calorimetry in synergy with new
Solid State Photomultipliers. The characteristics of extruded and co-extruded plastic scintillator will be
presented here as well as results with non-traditional photo read-ou
Advanced Radiation Panel design for applications in National Security and Food Safety
We describe a new concept for a basic radiation detection panel based on
conventional scintillator technology and commercially available solid-state
photo-detectors. The panels are simple in construction, robust, very efficient
and cost-effective and are easily scalable in size, from tens of cm to tens
of m. We describe two possible applications: flagging radioactive food
coontamination and detection of illicit radio nucleides, such as those
potentially used in a terrorist attack with a dirty bomb.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
A Novel Use of Light Guides and Wavelength Shifting Plates for the Detection of Scintillation Photons in Large Liquid Argon Detectors
Scintillation light generated as charged particles traverse large liquid
argon detectors adds valuable information to studies of weakly-interacting
particles. This paper uses both laboratory measurements and cosmic ray data
from the Blanche dewar facility at Fermilab to characterize the efficiency of
the photon detector technology developed at Indiana University for the single
phase far detector of DUNE. The efficiency of this technology was found to be
0.48% at the readout end when the detector components were characterized with
laboratory measurements. A second determination of the efficiency using cosmic
ray tracks is in reasonable agreement with the laboratory determination. The
agreement of these two efficiency determinations supports the result that
minimum ionizing muons generate photons/MeV as
they cross the LAr volume.Comment: Accepted version (without final editorial corrections
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FNAL-NICADD extruded scintillator
The possibility to produce a scintillator that satisfies the demands of physicists from different science areas has emerged with the installation of an extrusion line at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). The extruder is the product of the fruitful collaboration between FNAL and Northern Illinois Center for Accelerator and Detector Development (NICADD) at Northern Illinois University (NIU). The results from the light output, light attenuation length and mechanical tolerance indicate that FNAL-NICADD scintillator is of high quality. Improvements in the extrusion die will yield better scintillator profiles and decrease the time needed for initial tuning. This paper will present the characteristics of the FNAL-NICADD scintillator based on the measurements performed. They include the response to MIPs from cosmic rays for individual extruded strips and irradiation studies where extruded samples were irradiated up to 1 Mrad. We will also discuss the results achieved with a new die design. The attractive perspective of using the extruded scintillator with MRS (Metal Resistive Semiconductor) photodetector readout will also be shown
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