The Stochastic Light Confinement of LiquidO
Abstract
Light-based detectors have been widely used in fundamental research and industry since their inception in the 1930s. The energy particles deposit in these detectors is converted to optical signals via the Cherenkov and scintillation mechanisms that are then propagated through transparent media to photosensors placed typically on the detector's periphery, sometimes up to tens of metres away. LiquidO is a new technique pioneering the use of opaque media to stochastically confine light around each energy deposition while collecting it with an array of fibres that thread the medium. This approach preserves topological event information otherwise lost in the conventional approach, enabling real-time imaging down to the MeV scale. Our article demonstrates LiquidO's imaging principle with a ten-litre prototype, revealing successful light confinement of 90% of the detected light within a 5 cm radius sphere, using a custom opaque scintillator with a scattering length on the order of a few millimetres. These high-resolution imaging capabilities unlock opportunities in fundamental physics research and applications beyond. The absolute amount of light detected is also studied, including possible data-driven extrapolations to LiquidO-based detectors beyond prototyping limitations. Additionally, LiquidO's timing capabilities are explored through its ability to distinguish Cherenkov light from a slow scintillator.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2503.02541,
title = {The Stochastic Light Confinement of LiquidO},
author = {LiquidO Collaboration and J. Apilluelo and L. Asquith and E. F. Bannister and N. P. Barradas and J. L. Beney and M. Berberan e Santos and X. de la Bernardie and T. J. C. Bezerra and M. Bongrand and C. Bourgeois and D. Breton and C. Buck and J. Busto and K. Burns and A. Cabrera and A. Cadiou and E. Calvo and E. Chauveau and B. J. Cattermole and M. Chen and P. Chimenti and D. F. Cowen and S. Dusini and A. Earle and M. Felizardo and C. Frigerio Martins and J. Galán and J. A. García and R. Gazzini and A. Gibson-Foster and C. Girard-Carillo and B. Gramlich and M. Grassi and W. C. Griffith and J. J. Gómez-Cadenas and M. Guitière and F. Haddad and J. Hartnell and A. Holin and I. G. Irastorza and I. Jovanovic and A. Kling and L. Koch and P. Lasorak and J. F. Le Du and C. Lefebvre and F. Lefevre and P. Loaiza and J. A. Lock and G. Luzón and J. Maalmi and J. P. Malhado and F. Mantovani and J. G. Marques and C. Marquet and M. Martínez and D. Navas-Nicolás and H. Nunokawa and M. Obolensky and J. P. Ochoa-Ricoux and T. Palmeira and C. Palomares and B. Pedras and D. Petyt and P. Pillot and A. Pin and J. C. C. Porter and M. S. Pravikoff and N. Rodrigues and M. Roche and R. Rosero and B. Roskovec and N. Roy and M. L. Sarsa and S. Schoppmann and A. Serafini and C. Shepherd-Themistocleous and W. Shorrock and M. Silva and L. Simard and S. R. Soleti and H. Th. J. Steiger and D. Stocco and V. Strati and J. S. Stutzmann and F. Suekane and A. Tunc and N. Tuccori and A. Verdugo and B. Viaud and S. M. Wakely and A. Weber and G. Wendel and A. S. Wilhelm and M. Yeh and F. Yermia},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.02541},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
22 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables