Transparency of 0.2% GdCl3 Doped Water in a Stainless Steel Test Environment

TL;DR

This study evaluates the transparency of gadolinium-doped water in stainless steel environments for neutrino detection, finding that GdCl3 reduces water transparency at key wavelengths, impacting detector feasibility.

Contribution

It provides experimental data on the transparency of GdCl3-doped water in stainless steel, highlighting limitations for its use in large-scale water Cerenkov detectors.

Findings

GdCl3 decreases water transparency at 337nm, 400nm, and 420nm.

Stainless steel construction affects doped water transparency.

GdCl3 is unsuitable as a dopant in stainless steel detectors.

Abstract

The possibility of neutron and neutrino detection using water Cerenkov detectors doped with gadolinium holds the promise of constructing very large high-efficiency detectors with wide-ranging application in basic science and national security. This study addressed a major concern regarding the feasibility of such detectors: the transparency of the doped water to the ultraviolet Cerenkov light. We report on experiments conducted using a 19-meter water transparency measuring instrument and associated materials test tank. Sensitive measurements of the transparency of water doped with 0.2% GdCl3 at 337nm, 400nm and 420nm were made using this instrument. These measurements indicate that GdCl3 is not an appropriate dopant in stainless steel constructed water Cerenkov detectors.