The SuperFGD Prototype Charged Particle Beam Tests

TL;DR

The paper presents the development, testing, and performance evaluation of the SuperFGD prototype, a novel scintillator detector designed for neutrino detection in the T2K experiment upgrade, demonstrating promising response and reconstruction capabilities.

Contribution

This work introduces the SuperFGD detector prototype, detailing its design, electronics, and initial testing results, advancing neutrino detection technology for T2K.

Findings

Successful beam tests of the prototype at CERN

Effective 3D reconstruction demonstrated

Good detector response and electronics performance

Abstract

A novel scintillator detector, the SuperFGD, has been selected as the main neutrino target for an upgrade of the T2K experiment ND280 near detector. The detector design will allow nearly 4{\pi} coverage for neutrino interactions at the near detector and will provide lower energy thresholds, significantly reducing systematic errors for the experiment. The SuperFGD is made of optically-isolated scintillator cubes of size 10x10x10 mm^3, providing the required spatial and energy resolution to reduce systematic uncertainties for future T2K runs. The SuperFGD for T2K will have close to two million cubes in a 1920x560x1840 mm^3 volume. A prototype made of 24x8x48 cubes was tested at a charged particle beamline at the CERN PS facility. The SuperFGD Prototype was instrumented with readout electronics similar to the future implementation for T2K. Results on electronics and detector response are reported in this paper, along with a discussion of the 3D reconstruction capabilities of this type of detector. Several physics analyses with the prototype data are also discussed, including a study of stopping protons.