Radio Phased Arrays for the Detection of Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos
Ground-based radio arrays offer a promising future for the measurement of ultra-high energy neutrinos, including the prospect of reducing the radio-detection energy threshold to a level necessary to overlap with the high-energy range probed by IceCube (~1016 eV). Here we describe a phased array of a...
| Published in: | EPJ Web of Conferences |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
EDP Sciences
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201921604008 https://doaj.org/article/9bc88c91fbd949d494b3710ea57ab19b |
| Summary: | Ground-based radio arrays offer a promising future for the measurement of ultra-high energy neutrinos, including the prospect of reducing the radio-detection energy threshold to a level necessary to overlap with the high-energy range probed by IceCube (~1016 eV). Here we describe a phased array of antennas and beamforming electronics, which serves as a highly sensitive and directional trigger system for nanosecond-scale plane wave impulses. A prototype in-ice phased array was successfully installed during the 2017/18 austral summer at the South Pole in collaboration with the Askaryan Radio Array (ARA). The trigger array is a compact string of 7 in-ice dipole antennas deployed at a depth of 200 m, whose signals are continuously digitized at the surface using 1.5 GSa/s ADCs with 7-bit resolution. We measure a 50% trigger efficiency on band-limited impulses with signal-to-noise ratios of 2.0 or smaller. |
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