Design and Implementation of the Cosmic Ray Tagger System for the ICARUS detector at FNAL

TL;DR

This paper describes the development and deployment of a cosmic ray tagging system for the ICARUS detector at Fermilab, which uses fiber scintillators and timing to reduce background from cosmic rays in neutrino detection.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel cosmic ray tagging system with fiber scintillators and nanosecond timing for the ICARUS detector at Fermilab.

Findings

CRT system effectively distinguishes cosmic rays from neutrino interactions.

Installation and commissioning of the CRT system were successfully completed.

Performance results show improved background rejection in neutrino detection.

Abstract

The ICARUS-T600 Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber is operating at Fermilab at shallow depth and thus exposed to a high flux of cosmic rays that can fake neutrino interactions. A cosmic ray tagging (CRT) system ($\sim$1100 m$^2$), surrounding the cryostat with two layers of fiber embedded plastic scintillators, was developed to mitigate the cosmic ray induced background. Using nanosecond-level timing information, the CRT can distinguish incoming cosmic rays from outgoing particles from neutrino interactions in the TPC. In this paper an overview of the CRT system, its installation and commissioning at Fermilab, and its performance are discussed.