Silicon photo-multipliers (SiPM) are widely used as light detectors for the next generation of experiments dedicated to high energy physics. Compared to the traditional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), the SiPM offers several advantages such as excellent single-photon resolution, low power consumption, low sensitivity to magnetic fields, small dimension. However, for the multi-ton noble liquid...
We develop 3D integrated photon-to-digital converters (PDC) aimed to replace PMTs and SiPMs in various radiation applications. In previous years we reported on a CMOS readout electronics designed for low power consumption in large area systems such as noble liquid dark matter or neutrino searches, or fast neutron spectroscopy. System integration of these PDCs has also been demonstrated. We...
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next generation long-baseline neutrino experiment that will send an intense beam of neutrinos through two detector complexes: a near detector complex located at Fermilab (Chicago), and a far detector complex located ~1.5 km underground at Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota.
The DUNE far detector (FD) technology...
High Rate Picosecond Photodetectors (HRPPDs) are Micro-Channel Plate (MCP) based DC-coupled photosensors recently introduced by Incom, Inc. that have an active area of 104 mm by 104 mm, pixel pitch 3.25 mm and timing resolution on the order of 30-40 ps for a single photon detection. As such, these photosensors are very well suited for Ring Imaging CHerenkov (RICH) detectors that can also...
We present results from the performance characterization of MCP-PMTs with an active metal grid between the photocathode and the MCP. The active ion barrier grids are intended to prevent the positive ions generated inside the MCPs during the electron multiplication process from reaching the photocathode and thus, increase the lifetime of the MCP-PMT. The potential applied on the grid redirects...
Based at UC Berkeley and LBNL, the Eos detector deploys a range of state-of-the-art detection technologies with the aim of simultaneously utilizing scintillation and Cherenkov photons in neutrino event reconstruction and analysis. New Hamamatsu 14688 PMTs have been measured to have a 450-ps transit-time spread. 12 dichroic light concentrators, which have the ability to spectrally sort...
Water-based Liquid Scintillator (WbLS) shows promise as a detector medium offering the advantages of both pure water detectors and conventional liquid scintillator. With the capability of measuring and distinguishing both Cherenkov and scintillation light, it could use the former to measure track direction and particle species while the latter allows a low energy threshold and excellent...
Many neutrino detectors use photons as their primary event detection method, typically detecting numbers of photons and their arrival times. Photons also carry information about an event through their wavelength, polarization, and direction, but often little to none of this information is utilized. The "dichroicon," a Winston-style light cone comprised of dichroic filters, allows detectors to...
Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have had a transformational impact on many important experiments in high-energy and astrophysics. However, the SiPM is intrinsically limited in its photoresponse below ~300 nm, a critical wavelength range for liquid noble scintillation detectors. An alternative to silicon for the fabrication of UV avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are the wide-bandgap III-N...
Amorphous selenium (a-Se) has recently gained interest as a low-cost, large-area photoconductor for high-energy physics applications, including liquid noble gas detectors. Its low leakage current, high absorption coefficient from the VUV to blue wavelengths, and ability to achieve impact ionization at low fields (~70 V/um) make it an ideal detector for low-light environments. It has also been...
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) seeks to address key questions in particle physics, including neutrino mass ordering, CP violation in the lepton sector, and searches for proton decay and supernova neutrinos. Central to these objectives is the Photon Detection System (PDS), which captures scintillation light for precise event timing, calorimetry, and triggering.
The DUNE...
This talk will present initial results from an amorphous selenium (aSe) vertical photodetector with VUV transparent graphene electrode. Our initial results provide proof that graphene can effectively be deposited on aSe and that a proper readout can be obtained with a thin metal electrode grown either below or above graphene. We observed a significant enhancement in the photoinduced signal...
The sensitive element of a typical photon detector must perform several functions. It must absorb photons, transduce the photon energy into some excitation, and collect and possibly amplify those excitations. For example, in a silicon detector the photon is absorbed by the silicon crystal, giving rise to electron-hole pairs (excitations), which then must propagate to some collector and...
