The Rayleigh ratio measurement for SNO+ liquid scintillator and background studies of the internal ropes

Abstract

As a successor of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, the SNO+ experiment is planned to start data taking in early 2013. Making use of the liquid scintillator, Linear Alkylbenzene (LAB), the SNO+ experiment aims to perform ux measurements of low energy solar neutrinos in one phase, and wait for neutrinoless double beta decay events in another phase where 44 kg of natural Neodymium would be added into LAB. The Rayleigh ratio of LAB was found to be 16.60 _ 3.14 _10ð€€€6 cmð€€€1 at 546 nm using the relative measurement technique. The wavelength dependency of the Rayleigh scattering was also examined and compared with the theoretical prediction. A setup which is usable to measure the angular dependency of the Rayleigh scattering was built, and an isotropic behaviour of the scattering was tested. The _ and backgrounds, due to the internal calibration ropes situated in the scintillator volume, were studied using the SNO+ Monte Carlo Package. Also, the amount of 210Pb originating from the internal calibration ropes due to the intrinsic contamination of 238U, Rn emanation and plated on the surface prior to the installation were assessed to examine if it is a tolerable level to achieve the target level of 13.4 background events per day.