The Wavelength-shifting Optical Module (WOM) is a novel optical sensor that uses wavelength shifting and light guiding to substantially enhance the photosensitive area of UV optical modules. It has been designed for the IceCube Upgrade, a seven-string extension of the IceCube detector planned for the 2022/2023 South Pole deployment season. The WOM consists of a hollow quartz cylinder coated in wavelength shifting paint which serves as detection area and has two photomultipliers (PMTs) attached to the end faces. The light-collecting tube increases the effective photocathode area of the PMTs without producing additional dark current, making it suitable for low-signal, low-noise applications. We report on the design and performance of the WOM with a focus on the 12 modules in production for deployment in the IceCube Upgrade. While the WOM will be deployed in IceCube, its design is applicable to any large-volume particle detector based on the detection of Cherenkov light.
Gen2, a new sensor module is being developed, which is an evolution of the D-Egg and mDOM sensors developed for the IceCube Upgrade. The sensor design features up to 18 4-inch PMTs distributed homogeneously in a borosilicate glass pressure vessel. Challenges arise for the mechanical design from the tight constraints on the bore hole diameter (which will be 2 inches smaller than for IceCube Upgrade) and from the close packing of the PMTs. The electronics design must meet the space constraints posed by the mechanical design as well as the power consumption and cost considerations from over 10,000 optical modules being deployed. This contribution presents forward-looking solutions to these design considerations. Prototype modules will be installed and integrated in the IceCube Upgrade.
At the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a Surface Array Enhancement is planned, consisting of 32 hybrid stations, placed within the current IceTop footprint. This surface enhancement will considerably increase the detection sensitivity to cosmic rays in the 100 TeV to 1 EeV primary energy range, measure the effects of snow accumulation on the existing IceTop tanks and serve as R&D for the possible future large-scale surface array of IceCube-Gen2. Each station has one central hybrid DAQ, which reads out 8 scintillation detectors and 3 radio antennas. The radio antenna SKALA-2 is used in this array due to its low-noise, high amplification and sensitivity in the 70-350 MHz frequency band. Every scintillation detector has an active area of 1.5 m 2 organic plastic scintillators connected by wavelength-shifting fibers, which are connected to a silicon photomultiplier. The signals from the scintillation detectors are integrated and digitized by a local custom electronics board and transferred to the central DAQ. When triggered by the scintillation detectors, the filtered and amplified analog waveforms from the radio antennas are read out and digitized by the central DAQ. A full prototype station has been developed and built and was installed at the South Pole in January 2020. It is planned to install the full array by 2026. In this contribution the hardware design of the array as well as the installation plans will be presented.
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