Elsevier, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1(623), p. 339-341
DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2010.02.241
Full text: Download
We have succeeded in developing hydrophobic silica aerogels over a wide range of densities (i.e. refractive indices). A pinhole drying method was invented to make possible producing highly transparent aerogels with entirely new region of refractive indices of 1.06-1.26. Obtained aerogels are more transparent than conventional ones, and the refractive index is well controlled in the pinhole drying process. A test beam experiment was carried out in order to evaluate the performance of the pinhole-dried aerogels as a Cherenkov radiator. A clear Cherenkov ring was successfully observed by a ring imaging Cherenkov counter. We also developed monolithic and hydrophobic aerogels with a density of 0.01 g/cm^3 (a low refractive index of 1.0026) as a cosmic dust capturer for the first time. Consequently, aerogels with any refractive indices between 1.0026 and 1.26 can be produced freely. ; Comment: Proceedings of 1st International Conference on Technology and Instrumentation in Particle Physics (TIPP 2009) in Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A, 3 pages, 6 figures