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First gadolinium loading to Super-Kamiokande

Publication ,  Journal Article
Abe, K; Bronner, C; Hayato, Y; Hiraide, K; Ikeda, M; Imaizumi, S; Kameda, J; Kanemura, Y; Kataoka, Y; Miki, S; Miura, M; Moriyama, S; Orii, A ...
Published in: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
March 11, 2022

In order to improve Super-Kamiokande's neutron detection efficiency and to thereby increase its sensitivity to the diffuse supernova neutrino background flux, 13 tons of Gd2(SO4)3⋅8H2O (gadolinium sulfate octahydrate) was dissolved into the detector's otherwise ultrapure water from July 14 to August 17, 2020, marking the start of the SK-Gd phase of operations. During the loading, water was continuously recirculated at a rate of 60 m3/h, extracting water from the top of the detector and mixing it with concentrated Gd2(SO4)3⋅8H2O solution to create a 0.02% solution of the Gd compound before injecting it into the bottom of the detector. A clear boundary between the Gd-loaded and pure water was maintained through the loading, enabling monitoring of the loading itself and the spatial uniformity of the Gd concentration over the 35 days it took to reach the top of the detector. During the subsequent commissioning the recirculation rate was increased to 120 m3/h, resulting in a constant and uniform distribution of Gd throughout the detector and water transparency equivalent to that of previous pure-water operation periods. Using an Am–Be neutron calibration source the mean neutron capture time was measured to be 115±1 μs, which corresponds to a Gd concentration of 111±2 ppm, as expected for this level of Gd loading. This paper describes changes made to the water circulation system for this detector upgrade, the Gd loading procedure, detector commissioning, and the first neutron calibration measurements in SK-Gd.

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Published In

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

DOI

ISSN

0168-9002

Publication Date

March 11, 2022

Volume

1027

Related Subject Headings

  • Nuclear & Particles Physics
  • 5106 Nuclear and plasma physics
  • 0299 Other Physical Sciences
  • 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics
  • 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
 

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Abe, K., Bronner, C., Hayato, Y., Hiraide, K., Ikeda, M., Imaizumi, S., … Matsubara, T. (2022). First gadolinium loading to Super-Kamiokande. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.166248
Abe, K., C. Bronner, Y. Hayato, K. Hiraide, M. Ikeda, S. Imaizumi, J. Kameda, et al. “First gadolinium loading to Super-Kamiokande.” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 1027 (March 11, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.166248.
Abe K, Bronner C, Hayato Y, Hiraide K, Ikeda M, Imaizumi S, et al. First gadolinium loading to Super-Kamiokande. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2022 Mar 11;1027.
Abe, K., et al. “First gadolinium loading to Super-Kamiokande.” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 1027, Mar. 2022. Scopus, doi:10.1016/j.nima.2021.166248.
Abe K, Bronner C, Hayato Y, Hiraide K, Ikeda M, Imaizumi S, Kameda J, Kanemura Y, Kataoka Y, Miki S, Miura M, Moriyama S, Nagao Y, Nakahata M, Nakayama S, Okada T, Okamoto K, Orii A, Pronost G, Sekiya H, Shiozawa M, Sonoda Y, Suzuki Y, Takeda A, Takemoto Y, Takenaka A, Tanaka H, Watanabe S, Yano T, Han S, Kajita T, Okumura K, Tashiro T, Xia J, Megias GD, Bravo-Berguño D, Labarga L, Marti L, Zaldivar B, Pointon BW, Blaszczyk FDM, Kearns E, Raaf JL, Stone JL, Wan L, Wester T, Bian J, Griskevich NJ, Kropp WR, Locke S, Mine S, Smy MB, Sobel HW, Takhistov V, Hill J, Kim JY, Lim IT, Park RG, Bodur B, Scholberg K, Walter CW, Bernard L, Coffani A, Drapier O, Hedri SE, Giampaolo A, Gonin M, Mueller TA, Paganini P, Quilain B, Ishizuka T, Nakamura T, Jang JS, Learned JG, Anthony LHV, Martin D, Scott M, Sztuc AA, Uchida Y, Cao S, Berardi V, Catanesi MG, Radicioni E, Calabria NF, Machado LN, De Rosa G, Collazuol G, Iacob F, Lamoureux M, Mattiazzi M, Ospina N, Ludovici L, Maekawa Y, Nishimura Y, Friend M, Hasegawa T, Ishida T, Kobayashi T, Jakkapu M, Matsubara T. First gadolinium loading to Super-Kamiokande. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2022 Mar 11;1027.
Journal cover image

Published In

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

DOI

ISSN

0168-9002

Publication Date

March 11, 2022

Volume

1027

Related Subject Headings

  • Nuclear & Particles Physics
  • 5106 Nuclear and plasma physics
  • 0299 Other Physical Sciences
  • 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics
  • 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences