RESEARCH

Detector R&D

Developing the Next Generation
of Particle Detectors

Every breakthrough in particle physics begins with a new way of observing nature. My research explores innovative detector technologies for future neutrino experiments, from novel pixelated readout concepts to large-scale liquid argon detectors.

Detector research and development for liquid argon neutrino detectors

From detector concepts to real hardware. Installation of a pixelated Charge Readout Plane (CRP) for a cold-box test at Neutrino Platform, CERN.

LIQUID ARGON READOUT

From Projective Wire Readout to Pixels

TRADITIONAL LArTPCs

Reconstructing 3D from 2D

In a liquid argon time projection chamber, a charged particle passing through the detector leaves behind a trail of ionization electrons. An electric field causes these electrons to drift toward the detector's charge readout system.

Many large liquid argon detectors use planes of parallel wires to collect this charge. Each wire plane observes the interaction from a different angle, producing a two-dimensional projection of the particle tracks.

By combining the signals recorded by multiple wire planes with the drift time of the electrons, the original three-dimensional interaction can be reconstructed.

Anode Plane Assembly used for wire-based liquid argon TPC readout
A wire-based Anode Plane Assembly (APA), where multiple layers of wires record different projections of a particle interaction.

THE CHALLENGE

When 2D Projections Become Ambiguous

Projective wire readout works extremely well, but it comes with an important limitation: the detector does not measure the full three-dimensional position of the charge directly.

Instead, the reconstruction must determine which signals seen on different wire planes belong to the same particle. For simple tracks, this can be straightforward. But when an interaction contains many particles, overlapping tracks, or small low-energy deposits, different three-dimensional configurations can produce similar two-dimensional projections.

This can introduce ambiguities in the reconstructed event and make complex or low-energy interactions more difficult to interpret.

Illustration showing ambiguities in projective wire readout
With projective wire readout, different three-dimensional charge patterns can produce similar combinations of two-dimensional views. Reconstruction must determine how the signals from each wire plane should be matched together.

PIXELATED READOUT

Measuring the Interaction Directly in 3D

Illustration of pixelated charge readout in a liquid argon TPC
Pixelated readout records the position of individual charge deposits directly on the readout plane, avoiding the need to match overlapping wire projections.

Pixelated readout takes a different approach. Instead of measuring charge on long wires, the detector surface is divided into many small independent pixels. Each pixel records where charge arrives, while the drift time provides the third coordinate—giving a direct three-dimensional picture of the interaction.

This approach is particularly attractive for complex and low-energy events, where small or overlapping signals can be difficult to reconstruct from two-dimensional projections. Developing practical ways to realize this idea in liquid argon detectors has been a central theme of my research.

Q-Pix

MY PhD RESEARCH · HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Q-Pix: A New Approach to Pixelated Readout

During my PhD at Harvard University, I explored one approach to realizing this idea: Q-Pix, a novel pixelated readout architecture designed for liquid argon time projection chambers.

Q-Pix takes an unusual approach to reading out the detector. Rather than continuously collecting signals through a conventional readout system, each pixel operates independently and records the arrival of charge in time. The concept is designed to provide fine-grained three-dimensional imaging while remaining sensitive to very small energy deposits.

My research asked what new physics such a detector could make possible. Using detector simulations and reconstruction studies, I investigated Q-Pix's sensitivity to low-energy neutrinos from the Sun and from core-collapse supernovae.

These studies connected detector design directly to physics: exploring how a new way of observing particle interactions could open new opportunities for neutrino measurements.

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FROM CONCEPT TO HARDWARE

Pixelated Charge Readout Plane (CRP)

My work on pixelated readout now continues from detector concepts toward large-scale hardware. At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, I work on the development of a pixelated Charge Readout Plane (CRP) based on the LArPix readout system.

The project explores how pixelated charge readout can be implemented at the scale required for future liquid argon detectors. Thousands of individual pixels and their cryogenic electronics must operate together as a reliable detector system—a very different challenge from studying the concept in simulation.

My work includes detector assembly, electronics integration, system commissioning, software development, and performance studies, helping take pixelated liquid argon readout from an idea toward a working detector technology.

Pixelated Charge Readout Plane

LOOKING AHEAD

Building Detectors for the Questions Ahead

The next generation of neutrino experiments will push detectors toward larger scales, finer measurements, and sensitivity to increasingly subtle signals. Reaching that potential will require advances not only in detector design, but also in electronics, readout, reconstruction, and the way these systems are integrated at scale.

My goal is to continue working across these boundaries—from exploring new detector concepts to building, commissioning, and ultimately using them for physics. By connecting detector development closely with the scientific questions we want to answer, I hope to help develop instruments that allow us to see neutrino interactions in new ways.

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