Opportunity at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Designing Liquid Scintillators for Optimal Light Yield, Pulse Shape Discrimination, and Neutron Sensitivity for Applications in Neutrino Physics

Location

Physical Measurement Laboratory, Radiation Physics Division

RO# Location
50.68.21.C0494 Gaithersburg, MD

Please note: This Agency only participates in the February and August reviews.

Advisers
name email phone
Bergeron, Denis Eugene denis.bergeron@nist.gov 301.975.2282
Mumm, Hans Pieter pieter@nist.gov 301.975.8355
Description

Liquid scintillators have been at the heart of measurements at NIST for decades. Our scientists have pushed the limits of liquid scintillation-based techniques for radionuclide metrology and neutron detection. Now, liquid scintillators are playing a central role in neutrino physics. Detectors containing thousands of liters of specially formulated scintillators have been deployed to look for beyond Standard Model physics, including the search for “sterile neutrinos”. These applications rely on the inverse beta decay (IBD) reaction, whereby an electron antineutrino captures on a proton, producing a positron and a neutron. Organic liquid scintillators provide a proton-rich target and spiking them with lithium-6 increases sensitivity to neutrons. Moreover, proper formulation of the scintillator means that the response to the positron and the neutron look sufficiently  different enough to make IBD events very distinctive. Our project seeks to improve scintillators to get increased sensitivity, efficiency, and discrimination. The incumbent will work at the frontiers and intersections of surfactant chemistry, micellar dynamics, chemistry of lithium compounds, and neutrino physics.

Keywords:

liquid scintillation; inverse beta decay; neutrino detection; reverse micelle; lithium chemistry

Eligibility

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral applicants

Stipend
Base Stipend Travel Allotment Supplementation
$74,950.00 $3,000.00