Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - An Array of low-background 3He proportional counters for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
AU - Amsbaugh, J. F.
AU - Kormos, Laura L.
AU - O'Keeffe, Helen
AU - SNO Collaboration
PY - 2007/9/11
Y1 - 2007/9/11
N2 - An array of Neutral-Current Detectors (NCDs) has been built in order to make a unique measurement of the total active flux of solar neutrinos in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). Data in the third phase of the SNO experiment were collected between November 2004 and 2006, after the NCD array was added to improve the neutral-current sensitivity of the SNO detector. This array consisted of 36 strings of proportional counters filled with a mixture of 3He and CF4 gas capable of detecting the neutrons liberated by the neutrino-deuteron neutral-current reaction in the D2O, and four strings filled with a mixture of 4He and CF4 gas for background measurements. The proportional counter diameter is 5 cm. The total deployed array length was 398 m. The SNO NCD array is the lowest-radioactivity large array of proportional counters ever produced. This article describes the design, construction, deployment, and characterization of the NCD array, discusses the electronics and data acquisition system, and considers event signatures and backgrounds.
AB - An array of Neutral-Current Detectors (NCDs) has been built in order to make a unique measurement of the total active flux of solar neutrinos in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). Data in the third phase of the SNO experiment were collected between November 2004 and 2006, after the NCD array was added to improve the neutral-current sensitivity of the SNO detector. This array consisted of 36 strings of proportional counters filled with a mixture of 3He and CF4 gas capable of detecting the neutrons liberated by the neutrino-deuteron neutral-current reaction in the D2O, and four strings filled with a mixture of 4He and CF4 gas for background measurements. The proportional counter diameter is 5 cm. The total deployed array length was 398 m. The SNO NCD array is the lowest-radioactivity large array of proportional counters ever produced. This article describes the design, construction, deployment, and characterization of the NCD array, discusses the electronics and data acquisition system, and considers event signatures and backgrounds.
KW - 3He proportional counter
KW - Solar neutrinos
KW - Neutral current
KW - Low-radioactivity materials
KW - Neutron detection
KW - Radon-daughter mitigation
KW - Chemical-vapor deposition
U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2007.05.321
DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2007.05.321
M3 - Journal article
VL - 579
SP - 1054
EP - 1080
JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
IS - 3
ER -