The CosmicWatch Desktop Muon Detector: a self-contained, pocket sized particle detector
Author(s)
Frankiewicz, K.; Axani, Spencer Nicholas; Conrad, Janet Marie
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The CosmicWatch Desktop Muon Detector is a self-contained, hand-held cosmic ray muon detector that is valuable for astro/particle physics research applications and outreach. The material cost of each detector is under $100 and it takes a novice student approximately four hours to build their first detector. The detectors are powered via a USB connection and the data can either be recorded directly to a computer or to a microSD card. Arduino- and Python-based software is provided to operate the detector and an online application to plot the data in real-time. In this paper, we describe the various design features, evaluate the performance, and illustrate the detectors capabilities by providing several example measurements. KEYWORDS: CosmicWatch; Desktop Muon Detector; cosmic rays; muons; outreach
Date issued
2018-03Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of PhysicsJournal
Journal of Instrumentation
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Citation
Axani, S.N., K. Frankiewicz, and J.M. Conrad. “The CosmicWatch Desktop Muon Detector: a Self-Contained, Pocket Sized Particle Detector.” Journal of Instrumentation 13, no. 03 (March 26, 2018): P03019–P03019.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
1748-0221