LILAr & Q-Pix: developing novel light collection systems for pixelated TPCs

Noble elements Time Projection Chambers (TPC) are the detector technology of choice for the next generation of discovery at the intensity frontier. These detectors provide a number of experimental handles, such as full 3D imaging, excellent particle identification, and precise calorimetric energy reconstruction, making them extremely flexible tools for a wide range of physics measurements. Indeed, TPC applications range from dark matter, rare decays and capture, neutrino oscillations and nucleon decay, and neutrino less double beta decay. A key feature of noble elements for particle detectors is the double response to the passage of charged particles in the active volume, in the form of correlated ionization charge and scintillation light. 

In the context of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), the liquid argon community is showing great interest in developing a large-scale pixelated charge readout for multi-kTon scale detectors. Pixels offer a number of benefits compared to the traditional 2D projective wire readout, ranging from the robustness against single-point failure to the native 3D nature of the data. However, a light detection solution which would allow the full exploitation of the detection capabilities for pixelated TPCs needs to be developed:  the solutions used in traditional 2D wires projective readouts are not satisfactory (nor easily applicable).

In this seminar, I present the latest developments of the LILAr project — an imaginative idea for light detection systems in pixelated TPCs.