3D printing plastic scintillator detectors for particle physics

In response to ETH Zurich, researchers from the Division of Physics have demonstrated that 3D printing affords a sensible solution to construct large-scale plastic scintillator (PS) detectors for particle physics experiments.

In 2024, the T2K Collaboration started amassing new neutrino information utilizing upgraded detectors, together with SuperFGD, a 2-ton detector composed of two million PS cubes. These cubes emit gentle when charged particles go by means of them. Since neutrinos carry no cost, they will solely be studied after they work together with different particles like electrons, protons, muons, or pions. Every dice is embedded with three optical fibers, guiding gentle to 56,000 photodetectors, which reconstruct 3D particle tracks for additional examine.

Constructing detectors dice by dice is labor-intensive. Professors Davide Sgalaberna and André Rubbia, alongside a world workforce, explored whether or not 3D printing may streamline the method. Their findings, revealed in Communications Engineering, introduce a completely additively manufactured PS detector for elementary particles.

PS detectors observe charged particles with excessive precision. The fabric incorporates fluorescent emitters (fluors) that take up power from passing particles and emit near-ultraviolet gentle. A second fluor shifts this gentle’s wavelength, permitting optical fibers to seize and transport it effectively.

For correct monitoring, 3D scintillating detectors should encompass optically remoted models, much like pixels in a digital display. Sgalaberna, who led SuperFGD’s improvement, and his 3DET Collaboration workforce confronted key challenges: selecting appropriate supplies and discovering an AM course of that maintains transparency and structural integrity.

To scale back prices and manufacturing time, Tim Weber, a mechanical engineer at ETH Zurich, and colleagues developed Fused Injection Modeling (FIM), a hybrid of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and injection molding.

Their course of builds 5×5 layers of empty, white-coated plastic scintillator dice molds utilizing FDM. Steel rods create fiber pathways earlier than scintillation materials is injected. A heated punch flattens the highest, getting ready the following layer. Utilizing this methodology, they fabricated a SuperCube (125 voxels in a 5×5×5 grid). Every voxel takes 6 minutes to print, with automation anticipated to additional cut back this time.

“That is the primary time a 3D printed scintillator detector is ready to detect charged particles… and reconstruct each their tracks and power loss,” stated Sgalaberna.

Scaling from 2 million to 10 million voxels would considerably improve experiments like T2K, proving that 3D printing may revolutionize high-energy physics analysis.