Directional recoil detection for CEvNS measurements with light nuclei at the Spallation Neutron Source
The coherent elastic scattering of neutrinos on nuclei, also known as CEvNS, has been studied for several years by the COHERENT program of experiments using neutrinos from stopped-pion decays produced at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). We propose a new approach for CEvNS measurements at the SNS that aims to complement the COHERENT experiments in two main ways: by reconstructing the angular distribution of CEvNS-induced recoils, and by measuring CEvNS on much lighter target nuclei such as helium, carbon, and fluorine. The proposed detector would employ a gaseous time-projection chamber with a highly segmented charge readout to enable the spatial reconstruction of $\sim$10-500 keV ionisation tracks created by CEvNS-induced recoils. This would enable the simultaneous measurement of the CEvNS recoil energy and scattering angle, thereby allowing event-by-event reconstruction of the neutrino energy. We estimate that a 60:40 He:CF$_4$ gas mixture at atmospheric pressure offers a good trade-off between total target mass and good directionality and could deliver a detection of the angular distribution of CEvNS, even under pessimistic background conditions. We project the sensitivity of 1 and 10 m$^3$-scale detectors in the context of several physics cases, including: the measurement of the Standard Model CEvNS cross section, reconstruction of the flavour-dependent neutrino fluxes, observing the neutrino-induced Migdal effect, constraints on beyond-Standard Model neutrino interactions, and probing 10-eV-scale sterile neutrinos.