Supervisor: Christian Wittweg

What if we could shrink neutrino detectors to pocket size? Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS), first measured in 2018, makes the measurement of neutrinos with MeV energies a question of detector threshold rather than size. Low energy thresholds can be achieved by imaging stable, neutrino-induced crystal defects, so- called colour centres. These can be excited to fluoresce and be imaged under a microscope. Light-sheet fluorescence microscopes such as the open-source mesoSPIM, commonly used in bio-imaging, allow for the fast imaging of gram-scale crystals with micrometre resolution. Fully developed, this technique will enable passive neutrino detectors at nuclear reactors or spallation sources. It could also be used to search for dark matter interactions in ancient minerals as pursued by the PALEO collaboration. While the basic measurement concept has been demonstrated with neutrons, a first neutrino detection requires leaps in technology and methodology.

You can contribute to several areas in your PhD project:

  • Design and construct an optimised light-sheet microscope for neutrino physics,
  • Develop reproducible and fast imaging workflows and analysis algorithms.
  • Simulate and measure colour centre formation from different kinds of radiation.
  • Participate in measurements at nuclear reactors with international PALEO collaborators.

We are looking for an enthusiastic student inclined to lab work, data analysis with python and machine learning. We offer the chance to work on a new technology in a multidisciplinary project at the intersection of particle physics, nuclear physics and bio-imaging. You will gain experience in instrumentation for microscopy setups, image processing and feature recognition, physics simulation, and neutrino physics. Further, you will develop transferable skills in programming, hardware, scientific communication and more.

Further reading:

Nuclear recoil detection with color centers in bulk lithium fluoride, G. R. Araujo et al.  (PALEOCCENE Collaboration), Eur. Phys. J. C 86, 887 (2026).
Benchtop mesoSPIM: a next-generation open-source light-sheet microscope for cleared samples, N. Vladimirov et al., Nat. Commun. 15, 2679 (2024).

Studentship details:

The studentship is funded by a Frontier Discovery PhD Scholarship. It includes a standard UKRI stipend with London weighting, tuition fees and an enhanced research training support grant (approx. £5.5k/annum).

More Information:

Project supervisor: c.wittweg@imperial.ac.uk
PhD Admissions: hep-admissions-panel@imperial.ac.uk