The muon lifetime experiment
PART I: Building the BIG scintillator
A bigger plastic scintillator was built in order to increment the probability of stopping a muon. This scintillator was used in coincidence with a paddle or by itself to detect the double pulse of a decaying muon.
General characteristics
Made with our own manufacturing process. 2000 ml cylindrical volume. Bulk polymerized in a glass jar that was later crashed to unmold the plastic.
Detailed process
 | The phosphors. |
 | Drying 20 gr. of peroxide in the walls of a 3000 ml glass jar. |
 | Weighted 10 g PPO (white) and 0.4 g dm-POPOP (green). |
 |
2000 ml stirene monomer to the jar, with the phosphors. |
 |
Preheat and stir well. |
 | Mixture must remain clear with a slightly blue emmission due to POPOP. |
 | Keep at 70ºC for 72 hours. |
 | End of polymerization. Surface contracts and bubbles appear as a consequence of excesive temperature. Cool slowly until RT. |
 | Scintillator must be clear with blue reflections. |
 | Unmold carefully breaking the glass. Cooling in freezer can help. |
 | Unmolded scintillator. |
