Design, simulation, and prototyping of wavelength-shifting plate light collector for a large water Cherenkov detector

Abstract

A wavelength-shifting plate light collector has been investigated for a proposed water Cherenkov detector for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment. Experimental prototypes were fabricated from four different wavelength-shifting plastics and tested under uniform illumination as well as with a point source scanner. These laboratory tests were used to study the wavelength and position dependence of the plate's light collection. These results were then used to develop an optical model for the plates that was then used to estimate their effect on measuring neutrino events in the full water Cherenkov detector simulation. These results showed that it was possible to guide between 34% and 49% extra light to a 12" hemispherical PMT. In addition the plates were not found to adversely affect the particle identification abilities of the detector.