Ponente
Descripción
Noble element detectors are widely used today in particle and nuclear physics experiments, as well as in applied fields such as medical imaging. Noble elements are excellent detection media that provide strong scintillation and ionization primary signals. However, the efficient detection of that scintillation light, fundamentally emitted in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectral range, remains an unresolved challenge. The very short wavelengths involved make detection highly non-trivial since most photosensors operate in the visible range, and the few that can detect VUV wavelengths are prohibitively expensive. Given the size of next-generation detectors, using these photosensors is not feasible. Instead, VUV light is shifted to longer wavelengths, generally implying a significant loss of detection efficiency.
IFIC is fully committed to the R&D of large-scale photon detection systems that ensure efficient collection and detection of noble-element scintillation, having acquired considerable expertise in the area over the last decade. We are developing novel photon collectors for VUV light that use combinations of dichroic filters and wavelength shifters (WLS) to trap the light. Additionally, we are exploring optical metasurfaces, novel ultra-thin devices that implement arrays of nanostructures with sub-wavelength dimensions and periodicity that allow for accurate and efficient manipulation of light.
