DUSEL R&D: Development of a Novel Scintillation Lattice Technology for a Low-Energy Solar Neutrino Spectrometer

太阳提供了最高的物质密度、最长的基线、纯净的电子-中微子味源和最高的中微子通量和最低的能量，用于研究中微子味现象学和追求太阳天体物理学的细节问题。太阳中微子亮度的精确测量只有通过检测低能（小于2兆电子伏特）的太阳中微子才有可能，这些中微子含有超过99.9%的通量。低能中微子探测器的开发是2004年APS多部门中微子研究计划确定的三个重点之一。铟基低能太阳中微子光谱仪（LENS）是满足实时低能中微子探测实验挑战的一种方法。一个关键的创新是一个新的闪烁晶格设计的颗粒探测器定位核事件和应用空间重合标签的中微子捕获反应。利用该技术，开发铟液体闪烁体，并采用新的背景抑制概念，可以在含有10吨铟的125吨液体闪烁体中满足LENS的物理目标。这里提出的研发资金旨在建造一个中等尺寸的原型探测器MINILENS，尺寸约为全尺寸LENS的1%。该提案特别要求资金用于发展闪烁点阵技术和构建光学点阵。更广泛的影响包括装载液体闪烁体的化学和工程，其工作影响应用，如工业和国土安全中的中子探测；以及与法医、国家安全、考古和大气调查的低水平计数技术相关的宇宙起源和其他背景辐射效应的测量。

The sun offers the highest matter density, the longest baseline, pure electron-neutrino flavor at the source and the highest neutrino flux with the lowest energies for studying neutrino flavor phenomenology and to pursue detailed questions on solar astrophysics. A precision measurement of the neutrino luminosity of the sun is possible only by the detection of low energy (less than 2 MeV) solar neutrinos that contain more than 99.9% of the flux. The development of low energy neutrino detectors is one of three priorities set by the 2004 APS Mutidivisional Study on Neutrinos.One way to meet the experimental challenge of real time low energy neutrino detection is the Indium-based Low Energy Solar Neutrino Spectrometer (LENS). A key innovation is a novel scintillation lattice design for a granular detector for locating nuclear events and applying the space coincidence tag of the In neutrino capture reaction. With this technology, the development of the Indium liquid scintillator, and with new background suppression concepts, the physics objectives for LENS can be met in 125 tons of liquid scintillator containing 10 tons of In. The funds awarded for the R&D proposed here aim at the construction of a modest size prototype detector, MINILENS, at ~1% the size of the full scale LENS. This proposal specifically requests funds to develop the scintillation lattice technology and to construct an optical lattice.The broader impact includes the chemistry and engineering of In-loaded liquid scintillators with work impacting applications such as neutron detection in industry and in homeland security; and measurements of cosmogenic and other background radiation effects relevant for low level counting techniques for forensic, national security, archeological and atmospheric investigations.