Text Only | Queens Sitemap | Contact Us | Queens | Physics |
SNO  Queens  Physics   

Queen's Particle Astrophysics - Facilities

Below are some examples of the facilities we have available locally at Queen's University. As well as these, we have other facilities in Sudbury associated with SNOLAB.

 
Computing

Computing

Our computing facilities consist of a linux cluster of computers, which we use for data analysis, email and general computing. We have access to a large linux cluster at SNOLab, which is used primarily for SNO data analysis, and the HPCVL parallel computing facility at Queen's (see http://www.hpcvl.org).

 
Neutron Source

Neutron Source

We have a strong AmBe neutron source, which we use primarily for undergraduate teaching. However, it has often proved useful to be able to neutron activate samples, either to produce sources or to do elemental analysis. The flux of neutrons in the source is about 106 neutrons/cm2/sec. For more intense fluxes (up to about 1011 neutrons/cm2/sec), we can cross the Cataraqui River to the Royal Military College and use their Slowpoke reactor.

 
Clean Rooms

Clean Rooms

We have two clean rooms, which are necessary to prevent contamination of equipment by dust. Dust is somewhat radioactive, and often contains uranium and thorium at about the part per million level. When we built the SNO detector, we were allowed less than 1 gram of dust, contained in all the nooks and crannies in our detector. Our clean rooms allow us to fabricate materials for deployment in SNOLAB.

 
Counting Stations

Counting Stations

We have several counting stations, which are used to measure radioactivity from various materials. Since we are typically worried about natural radioactivity leaking into our apparatus, we spend a lot of time counting radon and radon daughters. We also look at alpha-beta coincidences and gamma rays.

 
Laser Lab

Laser Lab

We have nitrogen pumped lasers, spectrophotometers and scattering chambers. These are required to measure the optical properties of detector components, and to measure the purity of scintillating solutions. One project that we have done recently is to determine the optical properties of neodymium nanoparticles suspended in liquid scintillator. Such particles could be used for a double beta decay experiment in the SNO+ detector.

 
Darkrooms

Darkrooms

We have two darkrooms that we use for testing photomultiplier tubes and making different optical measurements. These were originally constructed for testing each of the 10000 photomultipliers that went into the SNO detector. Since then, they continue to be used for testing other apparatus.

 
Electronics

Electronics

Particle physics relies on technology to measure pulses in a variety of detectors. We have a variety of electronics for measuring and digitizing pulses. For SNO, we built a custom CMOS chip in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania and Canadian Microelectronics Corporation. We set up and tested all of the chips, and then the boards that they populated. We have an electronics technician, Steve Gillen, who works for the department.

 
Metal Shops

Metal Shops

We have two machine shops. There is a staff/student shop which is accessible to all who have taken our introductory shop course, and a full shop with two machinists to make things professionally. The shops include a CNC mill, conventional mills, lathes, saws, grinders, and other machine tools.


If you have questions or comments about the content of this website, please contact qusno@sno.phy.queensu.ca.