Listening to pulses of radiation: design of a submersible thermoacoustic sensor

Abstract

Nowadays, various collaborations are creating immense machines to try to track and understand the origin of high-energy cosmic particles (e.g., IceCube, ANTARES, Baikal-GVD, P-ONE). The detection mechanism of these sophisticated experiments relies mainly on an optical signal generated by the passage of charged particles on a dielectric medium (Čerenkov radiation). Unfortunately, the dim light produced by passing particles cannot travel too far until it fades away, creating the necessity to instrument large areas with short spacing between sensors. The range limitation of the optical technique has created a fertile ground for experimenting on the detection of acoustic signals generated by radiation—thermoacoustics. Despite the increased use of the thermoacoustic technique, the instrumentation to capture the faint acoustic signals is still scarce. Therefore, this work has the objective to contribute with information on the critical stages of an affordable submersible thermoacoustic sensor: namely the piezoelectric transducer and the amplifying electronics. We tested the sensor in a non-anechoic tank using an infrared ( ) Q-switched Nd:YAG laser as a pulsed energy source to create the characteristic signals of the thermoacoustic phenomena. In accordance with the thermoacoustic model, a polarity inversion of the pressure signal was observed when transiting from temperatures below the point of maximum density of water to temperatures above it. Also, the amplitude of the acoustic signal displayed a linear relationship with pulse energies up to ( ). Despite the use of cost-effective parts and simple construction methods, the proposed sensor design is a viable instrument for experimental thermoacoustic investigations on high-energy particles.