![]() ![]() LSDs typically have a rather poor event-by-event topological discrimination power. However, to this day, doping in LSDs has been limited at high concentrations by transparency and stability constraints. ![]() The discovery of the neutrino itself involved doping the detector with 113Cd 6 to increase the energy released on n capture and thus further reduce the BG. The physics goals of certain experiments call for detector doping 5, where an element other than the scintillator’s native H and C is added to enhance detection capabilities or to search for rare processes. The need for transparency has also set tight constraints on the type and concentration of elements that can be loaded into the scintillator. LSDs have gone from a few hundred kilograms, at the time of Cowan, Reines et al., to today’s 20 kilotons with JUNO 4, where a record setting mean attenuation length of greater than 20 m is foreseen. Given the extremely small probability for neutrinos to interact with matter, achieving larger detectors has in fact been a standing challenge throughout the history of ν physics. The propagation of light through the scintillator itself makes transparency an essential requirement for efficient light collection, potentially limiting the size of the detector volume. ![]() The simplicity and power of this technique, enabled in great part by the abundant light produced by the scintillators, has allowed LSDs to dominate several areas of neutrino physics, particularly at the lower part of the MeV energy scale.ĭespite their many advantages, LSDs have limitations. The close time and space coincidence between these two was exploited as the primary handle to separate the signal from the background (BG). relied on the inverse- β decay (IBD) reaction, given by \(+n\), that yields two clear signals: the prompt energy deposition of the e + (including annihilation γ’s) followed by the nuclear capture signal of the n after thermalisation. This light is detected by sensitive photon detectors, typically photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs) 3, that surround the scintillator volume and are often located many metres from the interaction point. ![]() for ν detection exploited a well-established radiation detection technique at the time, whereby molecular electrons are excited by the passage of charged particles produced by ν interactions and then emit light upon de-excitation 2. The liquid scintillator detector (LSD) developed by Cowan, Reines et al. The discovery of the neutrino ( ν) in the fifties 1 revolutionised particle physics not only by establishing the existence of this elusive particle, but also by laying the foundations for a technology used in many subsequent breakthroughs. With these and other capabilities, the potential of our detector concept to unlock opportunities in neutrino physics is presented here, alongside the results of the first experimental validation. A natural affinity for adding dopants at high concentrations is provided by the use of an opaque medium. This technique, called LiquidO, can provide high-resolution imaging to enable efficient identification of individual particles event-by-event. This article introduces a concept that breaks with the conventional paradigm of transparency by confining and collecting light near its creation point with an opaque scintillator and a dense array of optical fibres. This approach has remained one of the most widespread and successful neutrino detection technologies used since. The neutrinos interacted with the scintillator, producing light that propagated across transparent volumes to surrounding photo-sensors. In 1956 Reines & Cowan discovered the neutrino using a liquid scintillator detector. ![]()
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