LiquidO

LiquidO

LiquidO fundamental particle detection technology relies on the exploitation of opaque media for light detection. Here opaque medium refers to the use of material(s) causing very strong elastic scattering of light, order 1millimetre mean-free path with minimal absorption. The main mechanisms used by LiquidO’s scattering are the Mie and Raleigh light scattering, however, internal reflections may also be used. A common example of a highly scattering medium is milk – an emulsion of small droplets of fat (≤5%) in water – as opposed to water, being an easy transparent medium. While gas media is possible, most LiquidO R&D so far relies on liquid and solid media with oil or water as the main basis.

The main goal is to ensure a lossless (i.e. elastic) light scatter, as opposed to inelastic scattering or even reflections, which have long been commonly used in technology for detector segmentation. Even excellent reflective materials (≥95%) may lead to large losses of light due to a large number of reflections to contain light within a reduced volume. LiquidO exploits materials that can produce light (i.e. optical photons) upon the energy deposition of fundamental particles, such as scintillation and Cherenkov light emission. However, LiquidO may exploit other light emission mechanisms, as its detection functioning is not attached to the light production mechanism exploited. So, scintillation and Cherenkov are exploited so far simply because they are the most abundant and common in nature and existing technology.

 

DDL Involvement:

Hardware prototyping assistance