391 research outputs found
ICARUS T600: Status and perspectives of liquid-argon technology for neutrino physics
ICARUS T600 is the largest Liquid-Argon (LAr) Time Projection Chamber (TPC) ever built: the detector, assembled underground in the Hall B of the Gran Sasso laboratory (LNGS), is collecting neutrino events with the CERNto-Gran Sasso CNGS beam since May 2010. The excellent spatial and calorimetric resolutions and the three-dimensional visualization capabilities make the detector a
sort of “electronic bubble chamber”: for these reasons ICARUS T600 represents a major milestone towards the realization of future LAr detectors for neutrino physics
and for the search of rare events, such as the idea to use two identical LAr-TPCs in a “near-far” configuration at the foreseen new CERN-SPS neutrino beam to solve the sterile neutrino puzzle
WARP: a WIMP double phase Argon detector
The WARP programme for dark matter search with a double phase argon detector
is presented. In such a detector both excitation and ionization produced by an
impinging particle are evaluated by the contemporary measurement of primary
scintillation and secondary (proportional) light signal, this latter being
produced by extracting and accelerating ionization electrons in the gas phase.
The proposed technique, verified on a 2.3 liters prototype, could be used to
efficiently discriminate nuclear recoils, induced by WIMP's interactions, and
measure their energy spectrum. An overview of the 2.3 liters results and of the
proposed 100 liters detector is shown.Comment: Proceeding for IDM200
Demonstration and Comparison of Operation of Photomultiplier Tubes at Liquid Argon Temperature
Liquified noble gases are widely used as a target in direct Dark Matter
searches. Signals from scintillation in the liquid, following energy deposition
from the recoil nuclei scattered by Dark Matter particles (e.g. WIMPs), should
be recorded down to very low energies by photosensors suitably designed to
operate at cryogenic temperatures. Liquid Argon based detectors for Dark Matter
searches currently implement photo multiplier tubes for signal read-out. In the
last few years PMTs with photocathodes operating down to liquid Argon
temperatures (87 K) have been specially developed with increasing Quantum
Efficiency characteristics. The most recent of these, Hamamatsu Photonics Mod.
R11065 with peak QE up to about 35%, has been extensively tested within the R&D
program of the WArP Collaboration. During these testes the Hamamatsu PMTs
showed superb performance and allowed obtaining a light yield around 7
phel/keVee in a Liquid Argon detector with a photocathodic coverage in the 12%
range, sufficient for detection of events down to few keVee of energy
deposition. This shows that this new type of PMT is suited for experimental
applications, in particular for new direct Dark Matter searches with LAr-based
experiments
A new, very massive modular Liquid Argon Imaging Chamber to detect low energy off-axis neutrinos from the CNGS beam. (Project MODULAr)
The paper is considering an opportunity for the CERN/GranSasso (CNGS)
neutrino complex, concurrent time-wise with T2K and NOvA, to search for
theta_13 oscillations and CP violation. Compared with large water Cherenkov
(T2K) and fine grained scintillators (NOvA), the LAr-TPC offers a higher
detection efficiency and a lower backgrounds, since virtually all channels may
be unambiguously recognized. The present proposal, called MODULAr, describes a
20 kt fiducial volume LAr-TPC, following very closely the technology developed
for the ICARUS-T60o, and is focused on the following activities, for which we
seek an extended international collaboration:
(1) the neutrino beam from the CERN 400 GeV proton beam and an optimised horn
focussing, eventually with an increased intensity in the framework of the LHC
accelerator improvement program;
(2) A new experimental area LNGS-B, of at least 50000 m3 at 10 km off-axis
from the main Laboratory, eventually upgradable to larger sizes. A location is
under consideration at about 1.2 km equivalent water depth;
(3) A new LAr Imaging detector of at least 20 kt fiducial mass. Such an
increase in the volume over the current ICARUS T600 needs to be carefully
considered. It is concluded that a very large mass is best realised with a set
of many identical, independent units, each of 5 kt, "cloning" the technology of
the T600. Further phases may foresee extensions of MODULAr to meet future
physics goals.
The experiment might reasonably be operational in about 4/5 years, provided a
new hall is excavated in the vicinity of the Gran Sasso Laboratory and adequate
funding and participation are made available.Comment: Correspondig Author: C. Rubbia (E-mail: [email protected]), 33
pages, 11 figure
Precision measurement of the neutrino velocity with the ICARUS detector in the CNGS beam
During May 2012, the CERN-CNGS neutrino beam has been operated for two weeks
for a total of 1.8 10^17 pot in bunched mode, with a 3 ns narrow width proton
beam bunches, separated by 100 ns. This tightly bunched beam structure allows a
very accurate time of flight measurement of neutrinos from CERN to LNGS on an
event-by-event basis. Both the ICARUS-T600 PMT-DAQ and the CERN-LNGS timing
synchronization have been substantially improved for this campaign, taking
ad-vantage of additional independent GPS receivers, both at CERN and LNGS as
well as of the deployment of the "White Rabbit" protocol both at CERN and LNGS.
The ICARUS-T600 detector has collected 25 beam-associated events; the
corresponding time of flight has been accurately evaluated, using all different
time synchronization paths. The measured neutrino time of flight is compatible
with the arrival of all events with speed equivalent to the one of light: the
difference between the expected value based on the speed of light and the
measured value is tof_c - tof_nu = (0.10 \pm 0.67stat. \pm 2.39syst.) ns. This
result is in agreement with the value previously reported by the ICARUS
collaboration, tof_c - tof_nu = (0.3 \pm 4.9stat. \pm 9.0syst.) ns, but with
improved statistical and systematic errors.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl
- …