A series of plastic rods are mounted in holes pierced in an aluminum block. The tubes make a 90° bend and terminate in a thin circular socket that is used to mount a photomultiplier tube. Part of the rim of this socket is missing.
Accession Number: 2024.ph.895
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Aluminum, Plastic
Markings:
Dimensions (cm): Height = 11. Width = 6.5, Length = 24.
This is a small-scale prototype of a liquid scintillator calorimeter that was designed for the Superconducting Super Collider project that was planned for a site near Waxahachie, Texas. A liquid scintillator calorimeter is a particle detector that is used to characterize particles by measuring their energy. A liquid scintillator medium (in this case an oil with sulfur dissolved in it) emits light when absorbing the energy of a charged particle. This light is converted into an electrical signal using a photomultiplier.
One disadvantage of this arrangement is that the liquid scintillator gradually discolours with exposure to radiation. This concept behind this artifact placed the scintillator liquid in tubes so that it could be replaced periodically. This prototype was built to determine whether a signal could be obtained using a photomultiplier tube. This experiment was successful and a larger prototype was constructed. However, the Superconducting Super Collider project was cancelled mid-construction in 1993.
The circular socket that serves as a mount for a photomultiplier tube is damaged along part of its rim.
Associated Instruments:
Anthony Kiang, University of Toronto Department of Physics.
Date of Manufacture: c. 1990
This item was among several artifacts donated by University of Toronto Professor of Physics Robert S. Orr on 31 July, 2024.
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