Attenuation length measurements of a liquid scintillator with LabVIEW and reliability evaluation of the device

An attenuation length measurement device was constructed using an oscilloscope and LabVIEW for signal acquisition and processing. The performance of the device has been tested in a variety of ways. The test results show that the set-up has a good stability and high precision （sigma/mean reached 0.4 percent）. Besides, the accuracy of the measurement system will decrease by about 17 percent if a filter is used. The attenuation length of a gadolinium-loaded liquid scintillator （Gd-LS） was measured as 15.1±0.35 m where Gd-LS was heavily used in the Daya Bay Neutrino Experiment. In addition, one method based on the Beer-Lambert law was proposed to investigate the reliability of the measurement device, the R-square reached 0.9995. Moreover, three purification methods for Linear Alkyl Benzene （LAB） production were compared in the experiment.

Precise measurement of attenuation length of the JUNO liquid scintillator

Introduction The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory has critical requirements on quality of the liquid scintillator,one of which is long attenuation length.Purpose A system with a height of 3 m is used to precisely measure the attenuation length of the liquid scintillators.Methods The light generated by a LED is transmitted through an optical fiber.After being focused,filtered and collimated,the light enters the test tube with the liquid scintillator and is detected by the PMT.The stepping motor is controlled by the Labview program to adjust the level of the liquid scintillator,and the emitted light intensity of different liquid levels can be obtained to fit the attenuation length.In addition,the systematic errors have been studied,which includes the measurement error of the emitted light intensity and the error caused by the movement of light spot,and the latter is responded to the non-uniformity of the PMT photocathode.Meanwhile,analytical methods were improved.Results The system can measure the attenuation length stably and a small error was obtained,including statistical error and systematic error(0.69-23.70 m).

Characteristics of the sampling paddle modules of neutron wall from the cosmic ray test

In the construction of a large area neutron detector （neutron wall） that is used to detect neutrons at GeV energies, the performances of all the sampling paddle modules prepared for the neutron wall are investigated with a specially designed test bench. Tested by cosmic rays, an average intrinsic time resolution of 222.5 ps is achieved at the center of the modules. The light attenuation length and the effective speed of the light in the module are also investigated.

Fast calibration methods using cosmic rays for a neutron detection array

An overall irradiation and calibration technique was introduced and applied to a test scintillation detector array. An integral conversion method was used to reduce the nonlinearity of the time difference spectrum, and to improve the position determination especially for positions close to the two ends of a long scintillation bar. An overall position resolution of about 3.0 cm （FWHM） was extracted from the residual analysis method and verified by a direct measurement. Energy calibration was also realized by selecting cosmic rays at different incident angles. The bulk light attenuation lengths for the four test bars were also determined. It is demonstrated that these methods are especially efficient for calibrating large and complex detector arrays

Some new progress on the light absorption properties of linear alkyl benzene solvent

Linear alkyl benzene （LAB） will be used as the solvent in a liquid scintillator mixture for the JUNO antineutrino experiment. Its light absorption properties should therefore be understood prior to its effective use in the experiment. Attenuation length measurements at a light wavelength of 430 nm have been performed on samples of LAB prepared for the JUNO experiment. Inorganic impurities in LAB have also been studied for their possibilities of light absorption in our wavelength of interest. In view of a tentative plan by the JUNO collaboration to utilize neutron capture with hydrogen in the detector, we also present in this work a preliminary study on the carbon-hydrogen ratio and the attenuation length of the samples.

Aging of LAB-based liquid scintillator in stainless steel containers

Types 316 and 304 stainless steel are two candidates for the storage vessels and piping systems of LABbased liquid scintillator（LS） in the JUNO experiment. LS aging experiments are carried out at temperatures of 40 and 25. After 192 days aging at 40, the attenuation length of LS was reduced by 6% in a glass container, 12%in a type 304 stainless steel tank, and 10% in a type 316 stainless steel tank. At 25 in 304 and 316 stainless steel tanks, the attenuation length was reduced by 6% after 307 days. The light yield and the absorption spectrum were practically the same as that of the unaged sample. The concentration of element Fe in the LAB-based LS did not show a clear change. Type 316 and 304 stainless steel can be used as vessels and transportation pipeline material for LAB-based LS.