LiquidO detector technology development and neutrino physics

The focus of this project is the counter-intuitive idea of using opaque scintillators as particle detectors. Traditionally, light travels through a transparent scintillator to a photosensor. Our approach, called LiquidO, embeds a lattice of optical fibres in an opaque scintillator with a short scattering length.

The scintillation photons are stochastically confined close to the point of production via scattering and extracted by the fibres, removing the need for manual segmentation to create high-resolution imaging detector.

The student will join one of the largest groups developing this technology world-wide. Prof Jeff Hartnell co-leads the CLOUD neutrino experiment, which will deploy a 10-ton LiquidO detector 35 metres from Europe's most powerful nuclear reactor cores at Chooz in France on the timescale of this studentship. The Sussex group also has a strong programme of in-house prototype development, construction, operation and analysis as well as characterisation of different scintillators and fibres.