Construction and performance evaluation of a meter-scale monolithic scintillator tracker with embedded scatterers
Abstract
A meter-scale Fiber-Readout mOnolithic and Scatterer-embedded scintillator Tracker (FROST) was constructed and operated in the NINJA experiment to enable muon-track matching between the nuclear emulsion detectors and the downstream muon detector. The detector consists of a 1.32 m × 1.40 m plastic scintillator plate assembled from optically bonded scatterer-embedded plates, with wavelength-shifting fibers arranged at a pitch of 10 mm. During J-PARC neutrino-beam operation, FROST achieved a data acquisition efficiency of 99.59% and a detection efficiency of 99.946±0.006% for selected neutrino-induced muons well within the active area. A position reconstruction method based on the light-yield distribution was developed for both single- and multi-particle events. In a neutrino-interaction simulation, muon position resolutions of 1.77 mm and 1.61 mm were achieved in the two orthogonal readout directions, assuming correct muon identification. Using a beam-data sample dominated by single-muon events, upper limits on the position resolution of 2.20 mm and 2.03 mm were obtained for track angles below 20°. These results demonstrate that the FROST concept can be scaled up to a meter-scale active area while maintaining high detection efficiency and a position resolution well below the readout pitch under actual experimental conditions.
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BibTeX
@misc{otani2026construction,
title = {{Construction and performance evaluation of a meter-scale monolithic scintillator tracker with embedded scatterers}},
author = {N. Otani and S. Han and E. Abad Díaz and S. Aoki and D. Barčot and C. Bronner and T. Fukuda and M. Ghosh and L. Halić and K. Hasegawa and T. Hayakawa and Y. Hayasaka and K. Hayashi and D. Hirata and K. Indo and M. Jakkapu and A. Kasumi and T. Katori and T. Kawahara and M. Kawaue and T. Kikawa and B. Kliček and H. Kobayashi and B. Kovač and J. McKean and T. Matsuo and S. Mikado and A. Minamino and Y. Morimoto and Y. Nakamura and T. Nakaya and H. Oaira and N. Onda and H. Oshima and O. Sato and for the NINJA Collaboration},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.08278},
eprint = {2611.08278},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.08278},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Construction and performance evaluation of a meter-scale monolithic scintillator tracker with embedded scatterers
AU - N. Otani
AU - S. Han
AU - E. Abad Díaz
AU - S. Aoki
AU - D. Barčot
AU - C. Bronner
AU - T. Fukuda
AU - M. Ghosh
AU - L. Halić
AU - K. Hasegawa
AU - T. Hayakawa
AU - Y. Hayasaka
AU - K. Hayashi
AU - D. Hirata
AU - K. Indo
AU - M. Jakkapu
AU - A. Kasumi
AU - T. Katori
AU - T. Kawahara
AU - M. Kawaue
AU - T. Kikawa
AU - B. Kliček
AU - H. Kobayashi
AU - B. Kovač
AU - J. McKean
AU - T. Matsuo
AU - S. Mikado
AU - A. Minamino
AU - Y. Morimoto
AU - Y. Nakamura
AU - T. Nakaya
AU - H. Oaira
AU - N. Onda
AU - H. Oshima
AU - O. Sato
AU - for the NINJA Collaboration
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/05
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.08278
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.08278
AB - A meter-scale Fiber-Readout mOnolithic and Scatterer-embedded scintillator Tracker (FROST) was constructed and operated in the NINJA experiment to enable muon-track matching between the nuclear emulsion detectors and the downstream muon detector. The detector consists of a 1.32 m × 1.40 m plastic scintillator plate assembled from optically bonded scatterer-embedded plates, with wavelength-shifting fibers arranged at a pitch of 10 mm. During J-PARC neutrino-beam operation, FROST achieved a data acquisition efficiency of 99.59% and a detection efficiency of 99.946±0.006% for selected neutrino-induced muons well within the active area. A position reconstruction method based on the light-yield distribution was developed for both single- and multi-particle events. In a neutrino-interaction simulation, muon position resolutions of 1.77 mm and 1.61 mm were achieved in the two orthogonal readout directions, assuming correct muon identification. Using a beam-data sample dominated by single-muon events, upper limits on the position resolution of 2.20 mm and 2.03 mm were obtained for track angles below 20°. These results demonstrate that the FROST concept can be scaled up to a meter-scale active area while maintaining high detection efficiency and a position resolution well below the readout pitch under actual experimental conditions.
ER -