An Experiment to Demonstrate Separation of Cherenkov and Scintillation Signals

Understand

The ability to separately identify the Cherenkov and scintillation light components produced in scintillating mediums holds the potential for a major breakthrough in neutrino detection technology, allowing development of a large, low-threshold, directional detector with a broad physics program.

• The CHESS (CHErenkov / Scintillation Separation) experiment employs an innovative detector design with an array of small, fast photomultiplier tubes and state-of-the-art electronics to demonstrate the reconstruction of a Cherenkov ring in a scintillating medium based on photon hit time and detected photoelectron density.
• This paper describes the physical properties and calibration of CHESS along with first results.
• The ability to reconstruct Cherenkov rings is demonstrated in a water target, and a time precision of 338 +/- 12 ps FWHM is achieved.