Research
The miniTimeCube (mTC) is a novel compact multipurpose detector of elementary particles, aiming to detect not only neutrinos but also fast/thermal neutrons. Potential applications include the counterproliferation of nuclear materials and the investigation of antineutrino short-baseline effects. The mTC is a plastic 0.2% 10B-doped scintillator (13 cm)^3 cube surrounded by 24 Micro-Channel Plate (MCP) photon detectors, each with an 8x8 anode totaling 1536 individual channels/pixels viewing the scintillator. It uses custom-made electronics modules which mount on top of the MCPs, making our detector compact and able to both distinguish different types of events and reject noise in real time. The detector was deployed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research nuclear reactor (20 MWth) in Gaithersburg MD. A special shield was constructed, and calibration and upgrades were performed. The mTC's improved spatiotemporal resolution would allow for determination of incident particle directions beyond previous capabilities. Currently the detector is back at UH undergoing further neutron tests.