Organic liquid scintillation detectors for reactor Neutrino experiments: Toward precision Neutrino physics

Over the last few decades, through the detection of neutrinos from nuclear reactors, our understanding of neutrinos has remarkably increased with advancements in neutrino detectors. The growth of neutrino-detection technology has provided rich research programs in neutrino physics. This paper presents a progress review of the research program in neutrino physics with the advances in organic liquid scintillator (LS) neutrino detectors and detection technology. In particular, LS-related contents developed by Korean research groups, including the Center for Precision Neutrino Research, are described in more detail. For a successful neutrino experiment, an LS should be chemically stable over the duration of an experiment. Furthermore, certain optical and physical properties as well as safety concerns should be satisfied. The development of environmentally friendly metalloaded LSs and employment of the identical-detector technique has advanced precision neutrino physics associated with neutrino oscillation parameters. The smallest neutrino-oscillation parameter, 913, has been discovered from a comparison of the high-purity neutrino spectrum with sufficient statistics. Moreover, precision measurements of reactor neutrino flux and spectra have revealed an anomaly. Preparation is currently underway for the next-generation precision neutrino detector, which will lead the future neutrino research program. In this paper, LS detectors employed in various neutrino experiments are briefly summarized and reviewed.