1 | \section{MEMPHYS detector}
|
---|
2 | \label{sec:MEMPHYSdet}
|
---|
3 | \subsection{General considerations}
|
---|
4 | %
|
---|
5 | The 20 year long successful operation of the
|
---|
6 | Super-Kamiokande detector has clearly
|
---|
7 | demonstrated the capabilities and limitations of large water \v{C}erenkov
|
---|
8 | detectors\,:
|
---|
9 | \begin{itemize}
|
---|
10 | \item This technique is by far the cheapest
|
---|
11 | and the most stable to instrument a very large detector
|
---|
12 | mass, as price is dominated by the photodetectors and their associated
|
---|
13 | electronics (this price growing like the outer surface of the detector),
|
---|
14 | while the active mass, made of water, is essentially free except for the
|
---|
15 | purification system
|
---|
16 | \item These detectors are mainly limited in size by the finite attenuation
|
---|
17 | length of \v{C}erenkov light, found to be 80 meters at $\lambda = 400$~nm
|
---|
18 | in Super-Kamiokande, and by the pressure of water on the photomultipliers at
|
---|
19 | the bottom of the tank, which gives a practical limit of 80~m in height.
|
---|
20 | At large depths, the maximal size of underground cavities actually limits
|
---|
21 | relevant dimensions to about 70~m.
|
---|
22 | \item The detection principle consists in measuring \v{C}erenkov rings produced
|
---|
23 | by charged particles going faster than light in water. This has several
|
---|
24 | consequences\,:
|
---|
25 | \begin{enumerate}
|
---|
26 | \item neutral particles and charged particles
|
---|
27 | below \v{C}erenkov threshold are undetectable, so that some energy may
|
---|
28 | be missing
|
---|
29 | \item complicated topologies are difficult to handle, and in practice only
|
---|
30 | events with less than 3 to 5 rings are efficiently reconstructed
|
---|
31 | \item ring topology, based on their degree of fuzziness, allows to separate
|
---|
32 | between electromagnetic (e, $\gamma$) rings and ($\mu$, $\pi$) rings
|
---|
33 | \item the threshold in particle energy depends mainly on photocathode
|
---|
34 | coverage and also on water purity (due to radioactive backgrounds, such as
|
---|
35 | radon). Super-Kamiokande has achieved an energy threshold of 5 MeV with
|
---|
36 | 40\% cathode coverage
|
---|
37 | \item due to points 1 and 2, water \v{C}erenkov detectors are not suited to
|
---|
38 | measure high energy neutrino interactions, as more rings and more undetectable
|
---|
39 | particles are produced. A further limitation comes from the confusion between
|
---|
40 | single electron or gamma rings and high energy $\pi^0$'s giving 2 overlapping
|
---|
41 | rings. In practice water \v{C}erenkov's stay excellent neutrino detectors
|
---|
42 | for energies below 1 (may be 2) GeV, when interactions are mostly quasi-elastic
|
---|
43 | and the 2 rings from $\pi^0$ well separated.
|
---|
44 | \end{enumerate}
|
---|
45 | \end{itemize}
|
---|
46 | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
---|
47 | \subsection{Detector design}
|
---|
48 | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
---|
49 | Three detector designs are being carried out worldwide,
|
---|
50 | namely Hyper-Kamiokande \cite{uno} in Japan,
|
---|
51 | UNO \cite{hyperk} in the USA and the present project MEMPHYS in Europe (Fig.~\ref{fig:Phys-MEMPHYSdetector}) \cite{deBellefon:2006vq}.
|
---|
52 | All of them are rather mild extrapolations of Super-Kamiokande, and rely on the
|
---|
53 | expertise acquired after 20 years of operation of this detector.
|
---|
54 | Their main characteristics are summarized in table~\ref{WC:tab-1}.
|
---|
55 | %
|
---|
56 | %
|
---|
57 | \begin{figure}
|
---|
58 | \centering
|
---|
59 | \includegraphics[width=0.45\textwidth]{MEMPHYS.eps}
|
---|
60 | \caption{\label{fig:Phys-MEMPHYSdetector}Sketch of the MEMPHYS detector under the Fréjus mountain (Europe).}
|
---|
61 | \end{figure}
|
---|
62 | %
|
---|
63 | \begin{sidewaystable}
|
---|
64 | \centering
|
---|
65 | %
|
---|
66 | \begin{tabular}{rccc}
|
---|
67 | \hline\noalign{\smallskip}
|
---|
68 | Parameters & \textbf{UNO} (USA) &
|
---|
69 | \textbf{HyperK} (Japan) & \textbf{MEMPHYS} (Europe)\\
|
---|
70 | \noalign{\smallskip}\hline\noalign{\smallskip}
|
---|
71 | \multicolumn{4}{l}{\textbf{Underground laboratory}} \\
|
---|
72 | location & Henderson / Homestake & Tochibora & Fr\'ejus \\
|
---|
73 | depth (m.e.w.) & 4500/4800 &
|
---|
74 | 1500 & 4800 \\
|
---|
75 | Long Base Line (km) & $1480\div2760$ / $1280\div2530$ & 290 & 130 \\
|
---|
76 | & FermiLab$\div$BNL & JAERI & CERN \\
|
---|
77 | \noalign{\smallskip}\hline\noalign{\smallskip}
|
---|
78 | \multicolumn{4}{l}{\textbf{Detector dimensions}} \\
|
---|
79 | type & 3 cubic compartments & 2 twin tunnels & $3\div5$
|
---|
80 | shafts\\
|
---|
81 | & & 5 compartments & \\
|
---|
82 | dimensions & $3\times (60\times60\times60)\mathrm{m}^3$
|
---|
83 | &
|
---|
84 | $2\times 5 \times (\phi=43\mathrm{m} \times L=50\mathrm{m})$ &
|
---|
85 | $(3\div5)\times(\phi=65\mathrm{m} \times H=65\mathrm{m}) $ \\
|
---|
86 | fiducial mass (kt)& 440 & 550
|
---|
87 | & $440\div730$\\
|
---|
88 | \noalign{\smallskip}\hline\noalign{\smallskip}
|
---|
89 | \multicolumn{4}{l}{\textbf{Photodetectors}} \\
|
---|
90 | type & 20" PMT & 13" H(A)PD & 12" PMT
|
---|
91 | \\
|
---|
92 | number (internal detector) & 57,000 & 20,000 per compartment
|
---|
93 | & 81,000 per shaft (Inner Vol.) \\
|
---|
94 | surface coverage & 40\% (1/3) \& 10\% (2/3) & 40\% & 30\%\
|
---|
95 |
|
---|
96 | \\
|
---|
97 | \noalign{\smallskip}\hline
|
---|
98 | \end{tabular}
|
---|
99 | %
|
---|
100 | \caption{\label{WC:tab-1}
|
---|
101 | \it Some basic parameters of the three Water \v{C}erenkov
|
---|
102 | detector baseline designs. An option is to fill one tank of MEMPHYS with Gadolinium (0.2\% Gd Cl$_3$).}
|
---|
103 | \end{sidewaystable}
|
---|
104 |
|
---|
105 | These 3 projects aim at a fiducial mass around half a megaton, taking into
|
---|
106 | account the necessity to have a veto volume on the edge of the detector, 1 to 2
|
---|
107 | meters thick, plus a minimal distance of about 2 meters between photodetectors
|
---|
108 | and interaction vertices, leaving some space for ring development.
|
---|
109 | The main differences between the 3 projects lie in the geometry
|
---|
110 | of the cavities (tunnel shape for Hyper-Kamiokande, shafts for MEMPHYS,
|
---|
111 | intermediate with 3 cubic modules for UNO), and the photocathode coverage,
|
---|
112 | similar to Super-Kamiokande for Hyper-Kamiokande
|
---|
113 | and MEMPHYS, while UNO keeps this
|
---|
114 | coverage on only 1 cubic detector, while the 2 others have only 10\% coverage
|
---|
115 | for cost reasons. Another important parameter is the rock overburden, similar
|
---|
116 | for UNO and MEMPHYS (4800~mwe), but smaller for Hyper-Kamiokande (1500~mwe),
|
---|
117 | which might be a limiting factor for low energy physics, due to spallation
|
---|
118 | products and fast neutrons produced by cosmic muons, more
|
---|
119 | abundant by 2 orders of magnitude (see figure~\ref{muonflux}).
|
---|
120 |
|
---|
121 | \begin{figure}[htb]
|
---|
122 | \centerline{\epsfig{figure=muonflux_red.eps,width=8cm}}
|
---|
123 | \caption{\it Muon flux as a function of overburden.
|
---|
124 | The Frejus site is indicated by "LSM".}
|
---|
125 | \label{muonflux}
|
---|
126 | \end{figure}
|
---|
127 |
|
---|
128 |
|
---|
129 | The basic unit for MEMPHYS consists of a cylindrical detector module 65~meters
|
---|
130 | in diameter and 65~meters high, which can be housed
|
---|
131 | in a cylindrical cavity with 70~meter diameter and 80 meter height, as proven
|
---|
132 | by the prestudy. This corresponds to a water mass of 215 kilotons, that is
|
---|
133 | only 4 times the Super-Kamiokande detector.
|
---|
134 | Conservatively substracting 2~m for the
|
---|
135 | outer veto plus 2~m for the fiducial volume, this leaves us with a fiducial
|
---|
136 | mass of 146 kilotons per module. The baseline design uses 3 modules, giving
|
---|
137 | a total fiducial mass of 440 kilotons, like UNO, corresponding to factor
|
---|
138 | 20 increase over Super-Kamiokande (4 modules would give 580
|
---|
139 | kiloton fiducial mass). The modular aspect is actually mandatory for
|
---|
140 | maintenance reasons, so that at least 2 of the 3 modules would be active
|
---|
141 | at any time, giving 100\% duty cycle for supernova explosions. Furthermore,
|
---|
142 | it would offer the possibility to add Gadolinium in one of the modules, which
|
---|
143 | has been advocated to improve diffuse supernova neutrino detection.
|
---|
144 | We estimate an overall construction time of less than 10 years, and of course
|
---|
145 | the first module could start physics during the completion of the two other
|
---|
146 | modules.
|
---|
147 | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
---|
148 | \subsection{Photodetection}
|
---|
149 | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
---|
150 | The baseline photodetector choice is photomultipliers (PMT) as they have
|
---|
151 | successfuly equipped the previous generation of large water \v{C}erenkov
|
---|
152 | detectors and many other types of presently running detectors in HEP. The PMT
|
---|
153 | density should be chosen to allow excellent sensitivity to a broad range
|
---|
154 | of nucleon decays and neutrino physics while keeping the instrumentation costs
|
---|
155 | under control.
|
---|
156 |
|
---|
157 | Our goal for MEMPHYS is to reach in the whole detector
|
---|
158 | the same energy threshold as Super-Kamiokande,
|
---|
159 | that is 5 MeV, important for solar neutrino studies, for the proton decay into
|
---|
160 | $K^+ \nu$ using the 6~MeV tag from $^{15}$N desexcitation, and also very useful
|
---|
161 | for SN explosions, since the measurement of the $\nu_{\mu}$ and $\nu_{\tau}$
|
---|
162 | fluxes could be achieved using the neutral current excitation of Oxygen.
|
---|
163 |
|
---|
164 | Our first approach was to consider 20" Hamamatsu tubes as used by
|
---|
165 | Super-Kamiokande, but the cost for 40\% coverage becomes prohibitive, as these
|
---|
166 | tubes are manually blown by specially trained people, which makes them very
|
---|
167 | expensive. Following a suggestion presented at the NNN05 conference by Photonis
|
---|
168 | company, we have considered the possibility of using instead 12" PMT's, which
|
---|
169 | can be automatically manufactured and have better characteristics
|
---|
170 | compared to 20" tubes\,: quantum efficiency (24\% vs 20\%), collection
|
---|
171 | efficiency (70\% vs 60\%), risetime (5~ns vs 10~ns), jitter (2.4~ns vs 5.5~ns).
|
---|
172 | Based on these numbers, 30\% coverage with 12" PMT's would give the same number
|
---|
173 | of photoelectrons per MeV as a 40\% coverage with 20" tubes. Taking into
|
---|
174 | account the ratio of photocathodes (615~cm$^2$ vs 1660~cm$^2$), this implies
|
---|
175 | that going from 20" tubes to twice as many 12" tubes will give the same
|
---|
176 | detected light, with a bonus on time resolution and on pixel locations. If the dark
|
---|
177 | current of better photocathodes does not increase dramatically the trigger rate,
|
---|
178 | we can expect MEMPHYS performances be at least as good as Super-Kamiokande.
|
---|
179 | A GEANT4 based Monte Carlo is under development to quantify the effective
|
---|
180 | gain. Pricewise, each 20" PMT costing 2500 Euros
|
---|
181 | is replaced by 2 12" PMT's costing 800 Euros each.
|
---|
182 | The only caveat is to make sure that the savings on PMT's are not
|
---|
183 | cancelled by the doubling of electronic channels. An R\&D on electronics
|
---|
184 | integration is presently underway (see Sec. \ref{sec:photo}).
|
---|
185 | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
---|
186 | \subsection{Photomultiplier tests}
|
---|
187 | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
---|
188 | A joint R\&D program between Photonis company and French laboratories has been
|
---|
189 | launched to test the quality of the 12" PMTs in the foreseen conditions of
|
---|
190 | deep water depth, and to make a realistic
|
---|
191 | market model for the production of about 250,000 PMTs that would be necessary
|
---|
192 | to get the 30\% geometrical coverage.
|
---|
193 |
|
---|
194 | In parallel, studies on new photo-sensors have been launched.
|
---|
195 | The aim is to reduce cost, while improving production rate and performance, as
|
---|
196 | it is essential
|
---|
197 | to achieve the long term stability and reliability which is proven for PMTs.
|
---|
198 | Hybrid photosensors (HPD) could be a solution\,:
|
---|
199 | the principle has been proven by ICRR and Hamamatsu with a 5" HPD prototype.
|
---|
200 | Successful results from tests of an 13"
|
---|
201 | prototype operated with 12 kV are now available,
|
---|
202 | showing a $3 \cdot 10^4$ gain, good single photon sensitivity,
|
---|
203 | 0.8 ns time resolution and a satisfactory gain and
|
---|
204 | timing uniformity over the photo-cathode area.
|
---|
205 | The development of HPD has also been initiated in Europe,
|
---|
206 | in collaboration with Photonis.
|
---|
207 | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
---|
208 | \subsection{Smart-photodetector electronics}
|
---|
209 | \label{sec:photo}
|
---|
210 | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
---|
211 | The coverage of large areas (around 17,500 m$^2$ for MEMPHYS) with
|
---|
212 | photodetectors at lowest cost implies a readout integrated electronics
|
---|
213 | circuit (called ASIC). This makes it possible to integrate: high-speed
|
---|
214 | discriminator on the single photoelectron (pe), the
|
---|
215 | digitisation of the charge on 12 bits ADC to provide numerical signals
|
---|
216 | on a large dynamical range (200~pe), the digitisation of time on 12
|
---|
217 | bits TDC to provide time information with a precision of 1~ns, and
|
---|
218 | channel-to-channel gain adjustment to homogenize the response of the
|
---|
219 | photomultipliers and to thus use a common high voltage. Such an ASIC
|
---|
220 | for readout electronics allows moreover a strong reduction of the
|
---|
221 | costs, as well as external components (high-voltage units, cables of
|
---|
222 | great quality...) since the electronics and the High Voltage may be
|
---|
223 | put as close as possible to the PMTs and the generated numerical
|
---|
224 | signals are directly usable by trigger logical units and
|
---|
225 | the data acquisition computers (Fig.~\ref{fig:MEMPHYSPMTS}).
|
---|
226 | %
|
---|
227 |
|
---|
228 | The main difficulty in associating very fast analog electronics and
|
---|
229 | digitization on a broad dynamic range does not make it possible yet to
|
---|
230 | integrate all these functions in only one integrated circuit, but
|
---|
231 | certain parts were already developed separately as for example in the
|
---|
232 | OPERA Read Out Channel \cite{Lucotte:2004mi}
|
---|
233 | (Fig.~\ref{fig:OPERAROC}). The evolution of integrated technologies,
|
---|
234 | in particular BiCMOS SiGe 0.35$\mu$m, now make it possible to consider
|
---|
235 | such circuits and has triggered a new campaign of research and
|
---|
236 | development.
|
---|
237 |
|
---|
238 | \begin{figure}[htb]
|
---|
239 | \begin{minipage}[c]{0.44\textwidth}
|
---|
240 | \centering
|
---|
241 | \includegraphics[width=0.85\textwidth]{ModuleArriere.eps}
|
---|
242 | \caption{\label{fig:MEMPHYSPMTS}
|
---|
243 | \it Sketch of a possible photosensor basic module composed of a matrix
|
---|
244 | of $4\times4$ 12" PMTs with the electronic box containing the High
|
---|
245 | Voltage unit and the Readout chip.}
|
---|
246 | \end{minipage}
|
---|
247 | %
|
---|
248 | \begin{minipage}[c]{0.04\textwidth}
|
---|
249 | ~
|
---|
250 | \end{minipage}
|
---|
251 | %
|
---|
252 | \begin{minipage}[c]{0.44\textwidth}
|
---|
253 | \centering
|
---|
254 | \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{electronic.eps}
|
---|
255 | \caption{\label{fig:OPERAROC}
|
---|
256 | \it Sketch of the existing Read Out electronics developed for the
|
---|
257 | OPERA Target Tracker and that is intented to be extended for MEMPHYS
|
---|
258 | by integrating the ADC and TDC.}
|
---|
259 | \end{minipage}
|
---|
260 | \end{figure}
|
---|
261 | %
|
---|
262 |
|
---|
263 |
|
---|
264 |
|
---|
265 |
|
---|