Speaker
Description
The COHERENT collaboration operates a multi-target suite of low-threshold neutrino detectors at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These detectors are uniquely equipped to observe the dominant low-energy (E$_\nu \sim$ 10s of MeV) interaction of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS). The only experimental trace is a nuclear recoil of mere tens of keV. To probe the distinctive neutron-number-squared scaling of CE$\nu$NS’s Standard Model cross sections, COHERENT invokes the spice of life: variety. The CE$\nu$NS detector targets thus far range across CsI, LAr, Ge, and NaI.
The COHERENT program is expanding, and a large scintillating NaI[Tl] detector—christened NaI Neutrino Experiment TonnE-scale (NaI$\nu$ETe)—is among the new generation. Tasked with measuring CE$\nu$NS on the relatively light $^{23}$Na nucleus, its design capitalizes on a custom dual-gain PMT base to facilitate simultaneous measurements of CE$\nu$NS on $^{23}$Na and of charged-current interactions on $^{127}$I. Each of the five modules will contain 63 of the 7.7-kg crystals, a total mass of over 2.4 T. The first test module (470kg) of NaI$\nu$ETe is configured for a CE$\nu$NS search and taking production data. Adding to this successful deployment, subsequent modules are in construction and will be deployed in 2023.
