Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search: The Detector

The far detector, located in Soudan Underground Lab is 26 feet across, nearly 100 feet long and weighs in at just over 6,000 tons. Both the near and far detectors are composed of alternating panels of one inch thick steel and one half inch thick plastic scintillator. The far detector weighs about as much as two World War II era Naval Destroyers.

Bat's Eye View of the Detector

Even when a neutrino interacts in the detector, the detector doesn't 'see' the neutrino. The small number of neutrinos that get stopped do so by hitting the nucleus of an iron atom and creating a shower of other charged particles. When the charged particles travel through the plastic scintillator they create light. This light travels down an optical fiber to sensitive devices called photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The light is then translated into electrical signals which are stored for display and analysis.

Event Display of a Comic Muon Candidate.