arXiv subjects

D. Sgalaberna

Publications and source records attributed to D. Sgalaberna.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A new diffuse reflector filament for additive manufacturing of 3D printing finely-segmented plastic scintillator

This study presents the development and the characterization of novel white reflective filaments suitable for additive manufacturing of finely segmented plastic scintillators. The filament is based on polycarbonate (PC) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymers loaded with titanium dioxide (TiO$_2$) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to enhance reflectivity. A range of filament compositions and thicknesses was evaluated through optical reflection and transmittance measurements of reflective layers made with the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique. A 3D-segmented plastic scintillator prototype was made with fused injection modeling (FIM) and tested with cosmic rays to assess the light yield and the optical crosstalk. The results demonstrate the feasibility of producing compact and modular 3D-printed scintillator detectors with a performance analogous to standard plastic scintillator detectors. Owing to the improved optical properties of the new reflector filament, a lower light crosstalk and a higher light yield, compared to past works, is obtained.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

A new diffuse reflector filament for additive manufacturing of 3D printing finely-segmented plastic scintillator

This study presents the development and characterization of a novel white reflective filament suitable for additive manufacturing of finely segmented plastic scintillators using 3D printing. The filament is based on polycarbonate (PC) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymers loaded with titanium dioxide (TiO$_2$) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to enhance reflectivity. A range of filament compositions and thicknesses was evaluated through optical reflection and transmittance measurements. Reflective layers were made by using the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique. A 3D-segmented plastic scintillator prototype was made with fused injection modeling (FIM) and tested with cosmic rays to assess the light yield and the optical crosstalk. The results demonstrate the feasibility of producing compact and modular 3D-printed scintillator detectors with a performance analogous to standard plastic scintillator detectors, with lower light crosstalk, thus higher light yield, compared to past works, owing to the improved optical properties of the reflector material.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2023

Uncertainties on the $\nu_{\mu}$/$\nu_{e}$, $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$/$\bar{\nu}_{e}$ and $\nu_{e}$/$\bar{\nu}_{e}$ cross-section ratio from the modelling of nuclear effects and their impact on neutrino oscillation experiments

The potential for mis-modeling of $\nu_{\mu}$/$\nu_{e}$, $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$/$\bar{\nu}_{e}$ and $\nu_{e}$/$\bar{\nu}_{e}$ cross section ratios due to nuclear effects is quantified by considering model spread within the full kinematic phase space for CCQE interactions. Its impact is then propagated to simulated experimental configurations based on the Hyper-K and ESS$\nu$SB experiments. Although significant discrepancies between theoretical models is confirmed, it is found that these largely lie in regions of phase space that contribute only a very small portion of the flux integrated cross sections. Overall, a systematic uncertainty on the oscillated flux-averaged $\nu_{e}$/$\bar{\nu}_{e}$ cross-section ratio is found to be $\sim$2\% and $\sim$4\% for Hyper-K and ESS$\nu$SB respectively.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

SuperFGD prototype time resolution studies

The SuperFGD will be a part of the ND280 near detector of the T2K and Hyper Kamiokande projects, that will help to reduce systematic uncertainties related with neutrino flux and cross-section modeling. The upgraded ND280 will be able to perform a full exclusive reconstruction of the final state from neutrino-nucleus interactions, including measurements of low momentum protons, pions and, for the first time, event-by event measurements of neutron kinematics. The time resolution defines the neutron energy resolution. We present the results of time resolution measurements made with the SuperFGD prototype that consists of 9216 plastic scintillator cubes (cube size is 1 cm$^3$) readout with 1728 wavelength-shifting fibers going along three orthogonal directions. We use data from the muon beam exposure at CERN. The time resolution of 0.97 ns was obtained for one readout channel after implementing the time calibration with a correction for the time-walk effect. The time resolution improves with energy deposited in a scintillator cube. Averaging two readout channels for one scintillator cube improves the time resolution to 0.68 ns which means that signals in different channels are not synchronous. Therefore the contribution from the time recording step of 2.5 ns is averaged as well. Averaging time values from N channels improves the time resolution by $\sim 1/\sqrt{N}$. Therefore a very good time resolution should be achievable for neutrons since neutron recoils hit typically several scintillator cubes and in addition produce larger amplitudes than muons. Measurements performed with a laser and a wide-bandwidth oscilloscope demonstrated that the time resolution obtained with the muon beam is not far from its expected limit. The intrinsic time resolution of one channel is 0.67 ns for signals of 56 photo-electron typical for minimum ionizing particles.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Additive manufacturing of inorganic scintillator-based particle detectors

Inorganic scintillators are widely used for scientific, industrial and medical applications. The development of 3D printing with inorganic scintillators would allow fast creation of detector prototypes for registration of ionizing radiation, such as alpha and beta, gamma particles in thin layers of active material and soft X-ray radiation. This article reports on the technical work and scientific achievements that aimed at developing a new inorganic scintillation filament to be used for the 3D printing of composite scintillator materials: study and definition of the scintillator composition; development of the methods for the inorganic scintillator filament production and further implementation in the available 3D printing technologies; study of impact of the different 3D printing modes on the material scintillation characteristics. Also, 3D printed scintillators can be used for creation of combined detectors for high-energy physics.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Neutron detection and application with a novel 3D-projection scintillator tracker in the future long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments

Neutrino oscillation experiments require a precise measurement of the neutrino energy. However, the kinematic detection of the final-state neutron in the neutrino interaction is missing in current neutrino oscillation experiments. The missing neutron kinematic detection results in a feed-down of the detected neutrino energy compared to the true neutrino energy. A novel 3D\textcolor{black}{-}projection scintillator tracker, which consists of roughly ten million active cubes covered with an optical reflector, is capable of measuring the neutron kinetic energy and direction on an event-by-event basis using the time-of-flight technique thanks to the fast timing, fine granularity, and high light yield. The $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$ interactions tend to produce neutrons in the final state. By inferring the neutron kinetic energy, the $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$ energy can be reconstructed better, allowing a tighter incoming neutrino flux constraint. This paper shows the detector's ability to reconstruct neutron kinetic energy and the $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$ flux constraint achieved by selecting the charged-current interactions without mesons or protons in the final state.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Additive manufacturing of fine-granularity optically-isolated plastic scintillator elements

Plastic scintillator detectors are used in high energy physics as well as for diagnostic imaging in medicine, beam monitoring on hadron therapy, muon tomography, dosimetry and many security applications. To combine particle tracking and calorimetry it is necessary to build detectors with three-dimensional granularity, i.e. small voxels of scintillator optically isolated from each other. Recently, the 3DET collaboration demonstrated the possibility to 3D print polystyrene-based scintillators with a light output performance close to that obtained with standard production methods. In this article, after providing a further characterization of the developed scintillators, we show the first matrix of plastic scintillator cubes optically separated by a white reflector material entirely 3D printed with fused deposition modeling. This is a major milestone towards the 3D printing of the first real particle detector. A discussion of the results as well as the next steps in the R&D is also provided.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Study of final-state interactions of protons in neutrino-nucleus scattering with INCL and NuWro cascade models

The modeling of neutrino-nucleus interactions constitutes a challenging source of systematic uncertainty for the extraction of precise values of neutrino oscillation parameters in long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiments. To improve such modeling and minimize the corresponding uncertainties, a new generation of detectors is being developed, which aim to measure the complete final state of particles resulting from neutrino interactions. In order to fully benefit from the improved detector capabilities, precise simulations of the nuclear effects on the final-state nucleons are needed. This article presents the study of the in-medium propagation of knocked-out protons, i.e., final-state interactions (FSI), comparing the NuWro and INCL cascade models. The INCL model is used here for the first time to predict exclusive final states of neutrino interactions. This study of INCL in the framework of neutrino interactions features various novelties, including the production of nuclear clusters (e.g., deuterons, $α$ particles) in the final state. The paper includes a complete characterization of the final state after FSI, comparisons to available measurements of single transverse variables, and an assessment of the observability of nuclear clusters.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Total Neutron Cross-section Measurement on CH with a Novel 3D-projection Scintillator Detector

In order to extract neutrino oscillation parameters, precision long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments rely on detailed models of neutrino interactions with nuclei. These models constitute an important source of systematic uncertainty, partially because detectors to date have been blind to final state neutrons. Three-dimensional projection scintillator trackers comprise components of the near detectors of the next generation long-baseline neutrino experiments. Due to the good timing resolution and fine granularity, this technology is capable of measuring neutron kinetic energy in neutrino interactions on an event-by-event basis and will provide valuable data for refining neutrino interaction models and ways to reconstruct neutrino energy. Two prototypes have been exposed to the neutron beamline at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in both 2019 and 2020, with neutron energies between 0 and 800 MeV. In order to demonstrate the capability of neutron detection, the total neutron-scintillator cross section is measured and compared to external measurements. The measured total neutron cross section in scintillator between 98 and 688 MeV is 0.36 $\pm$ 0.05 barn.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

Demonstrating a single-block 3D-segmented plastic-scintillator detector

Three-dimensional finely grained plastic scintillator detectors bring many advantages in particle detectors, allowing a massive active target which enables a high-precision tracking of interaction products, excellent calorimetry and a sub-nanosecond time resolution. Whilst such detectors can be scaled up to several-tonnes, as required by future neutrino experiments, a relatively long production time, where each single plastic-scintillator element is independently manufactured and machined, together with potential challenges in the assembly, complicates their realisation. In this manuscript we propose a novel design for 3D granular scintillator detectors where O($1~\text{cm}^3$) cubes are efficiently glued in a single block of scintillator after being produced via cast polymerization, which can enable rapid and cost-efficient detector construction. This work could become particularly relevant for the detectors of the next-generation long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiments, such as DUNE, Hyper-Kamiokande and ESSnuB.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

Sensitivity of the Upgraded T2K Near Detector to constrain neutrino and anti-neutrino interactions with no mesons in the final state by exploiting nucleon-lepton correlations

The most challenging and impactful uncertainties that future accelerator-based measurements of neutrino oscillations must overcome stem from our limited ability to model few-GeV neutrino-nucleus interactions. In particular, it is crucial to better understand the nuclear effects which can alter the final state topology and kinematics of neutrino interactions, inducing possible biases in neutrino energy reconstruction. The upgraded ND280 near detector of the T2K experiment will directly confront neutrino interaction uncertainties using a new suite of detectors with full polar angle acceptance, improved spatial resolutions, neutron detection capabilities and reduced tracking thresholds. In this manuscript we explore the physics sensitivity that can be expected from the upgraded detector, specifically focusing on the additional sensitivity to nuclear effects and how they can be constrained with future measurements of kinematic variables constructed using both outgoing lepton and nucleon kinematics.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2020

A novel polystyrene-based scintillator production process involving additive manufacturing

Plastic scintillator detectors are widely used in particle physics thanks to the very good particle identification, tracking capabilities and time resolution. However, new experimental challenges and the need for enhanced performance require the construction of detector geometries that are complicated using the current production techniques. In this article we propose a new production technique based on additive manufacturing that aims to 3D print polystyrene-based scintillator. The production process and the results of the scintillation light output measurement of the 3D-printed scintillator are reported.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

The SuperFGD Prototype Charged Particle Beam Tests

A novel scintillator detector, the SuperFGD, has been selected as the main neutrino target for an upgrade of the T2K experiment ND280 near detector. The detector design will allow nearly 4π coverage for neutrino interactions at the near detector and will provide lower energy thresholds, significantly reducing systematic errors for the experiment. The SuperFGD is made of optically-isolated scintillator cubes of size 10x10x10 mm^3, providing the required spatial and energy resolution to reduce systematic uncertainties for future T2K runs. The SuperFGD for T2K will have close to two million cubes in a 1920x560x1840 mm^3 volume. A prototype made of 24x8x48 cubes was tested at a charged particle beamline at the CERN PS facility. The SuperFGD Prototype was instrumented with readout electronics similar to the future implementation for T2K. Results on electronics and detector response are reported in this paper, along with a discussion of the 3D reconstruction capabilities of this type of detector. Several physics analyses with the prototype data are also discussed, including a study of stopping protons.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2019

A new method for an improved anti-neutrino energy reconstruction with charged-current interactions in next-generation detectors

We propose and validate a method of anti-neutrino energy reconstruction for charged-current meson-less interactions on composite fully active targets containing hydrogen (such as hydrocarbon scintillator), which is largely free of the poorly understood nuclear effects that usually distort and bias attempts to measure neutrino energy. The method is based on the precise event-by-event measurement of the outgoing neutron kinetic energy and the subsequent assessment of the momentum imbalance on the plane transverse to the incoming anti-neutrino direction. For an anti-neutrino flux peaked at around 600 MeV measured using a finely grained $2\times2\times2$ m$^3$ 3D scintillator tracker the neutrino energy resolution is expected to be around 7%, compared to the 15% expected using traditional neutrino energy reconstruction techniques. Analogous results can be obtained for other detectors with similar characteristics.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2019

Plastic scintillator detector with the readout based on an array of large-area SiPMs for the ND280/T2K upgrade and SHiP experiments

Plastic scintillator detectors have been extensively used in particle physics experiments for decades. A large-scale detector is typically arranged as an array of staggered long bars which provide a fast trigger signal and/or particle identification via time-of-flight measurements. Scintillation light is collected by photosensors coupled to both ends of every bar. In this article, we present our study on a direct replacement of commonly used vacuum photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) by arrays of large-area silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). An SiPM array which is directly coupled to the scintillator bulk, has a clear advantage with respect to a PMT: compactness, mechanical robustness, high PDE, low operation voltage, insensitivity to magnetic field, low material budget, possibility to omit light-guides. In this study, arrays of eight 6 x 6 mm2 area SiPMs were coupled to the ends of plastic scintillator bars with 1.68 m and 2.3 m lengths. An 8 channel SiPM anode readout ASIC (eMUSIC) was used for the readout, amplification and summation of signals of individual SiPMs. Timing characteristics of a large-scale detector prototype were studied in test-beams at the CERN PS. This technology is proposed for the ToF system of the ND280/T2K II upgrade at J-PARC and the timing detector of the SHiP experiment at the CERN SPS.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2018

Beam test results of 3D fine-grained scintillator detector prototype for a T2K ND280 neutrino active target

An upgrade of the long baseline neutrino experiment T2K near detector ND280 is currently being developed with the goal to reduce systematic uncertainties in the prediction of number of events at the far detector Super-Kamiokande. The upgrade program includes the design and construction of a new highly granular fully active scintillator detector with 3D WLS fiber readout as a neutrino target. The detector of about $200\times 180\times 60~cm^3$ in size and a mass of $\sim$2.2~tons will be assembled from about $2\times10^6$ plastic scintillator cubes of $1\times1\times1~cm^3$. Each cube is read out by three orthogonal Kuraray Y11 Wave Length Shifting (WLS) fibers threaded through the detector. A detector prototype made of 125 cubes was assembled and tested in a charged particle test beam at CERN in the fall of 2017. This paper presents the results obtained on the light yield and timing as well as on the optical cross-talk between the cubes.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2018

A fully active fine grained detector with three readout views

This paper describes a novel idea of a fine-grained fully-active plastic scintillator detector made of many optically independent $1\times1\times1~\text{cm}^3$ cubes with readout on three orthogonal projections by wavelength shifting fibers. The original purpose of this detector is to serve as an active neutrino target for the detection, measurement and identification of the final state particles down to a few tenths MeV kinetic energies. The three readout views as well as the fine granularity ensure powerful localization and measurement of the deposited energy combined with good timing properties and isotropic acceptance. The possible application as a new active target for the T2K near detector, initial simulation studies and R&D test results are reported.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2017

Application of large area SiPMs for the readout of a plastic scintillator based timing detector

In this study an array of eight 6 mm x 6 mm area SiPMs was coupled to the end of a long plastic scintillator counter which was exposed to a 2.5 GeV/c muon beam at the CERN PS. Timing characteristics of bars with dimensions 150 cm x 6 cm x 1 cm and 120 cm x 11 cm x 2.5 cm have been studied. An 8-channel SiPM anode readout ASIC (MUSIC R1) based on a novel low input impedance current conveyor has been used to read out and amplify SiPMs independently and sum the signals at the end. Prospects for applications in large-scale particle physics detectors with timing resolution below 100 ps are provided in light of the results.

physics.ins-det↗