Light Attenuation Length of High Quality Linear Alkyl Benzene as Liquid Scintillator Solvent for the JUNO Experiment

TL;DR

This paper reports the measurement of the light attenuation length of high-quality linear alkyl benzene, a liquid scintillator solvent, demonstrating its suitability for the JUNO neutrino detector with a length comparable to the detector's size.

Contribution

The study provides the first precise measurement of LAB's attenuation length, confirming its effectiveness as a scintillator solvent for large-scale neutrino experiments.

Findings

Attenuation length of 25.8 meters achieved in LAB sample.

LAB's attenuation length is comparable to JUNO detector diameter.

Supports use of LAB as liquid scintillator solvent in JUNO.

Abstract

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a multipurpose neutrino experiment with a 20 kt liquid scintillator detector designed to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy, and measure the neutrino oscillation parameters. Linear alkyl benzene (LAB) will be used as the solvent for the liquid scintillation system in the central detector of JUNO. For this purpose, we have prepared LAB samples, and have measured their light attenuation lengths, with one achieving a length of 25.8 m, comparable to the diameter of the JUNO detector.