The first 12 photon detector modules have been shipped to CERN to be installed into the protoDUNE single-phase prototype Time Projection Chamber (TPC). The shipped photon detectors will instrument the first of 6 TPC cells (with 2 spares remaining). The photon detectors, the optical components of which come from Fermilab and Indiana University, were assembled and tested at CSU. Additional components and support for the photon detectors came from the University of Northern Illinois, Caltech, Argonne National Laboratory, and MIT. This shipment is the result of many years of research and development at the institutions mentioned above. The protoDUNE test will provide data to help guide further design optimization of the system for inclusion in the DUNE far detector.
The shipment also included an optical scanner designed and built at CSU that will be used to check out the photon detectors after they arrive at CERN. Members of the CSU team (Dave Warner and Jay Jablonski) will travel to CERN to assist with the installation of the photon detectors.
Members of the CSU DUNE photon detector group standing behind the first 12 protoDUNE photon detector modules and photon detector QC scanner before shipment to CERN. From left to right: Dave Warner, Stephanie Mazur, Anne Christensen, Aurora Popescu, Madeline Jekot, Blake Duff, Zach Rautio, Justin Dokter (photo by Norm Buchanan)
