10,000 Sensors in the Antarctic Ice Measure Cosmic Neutrinos

Measurement Technology Extreme 10,000 Sensors in the Antarctic Ice Measure Cosmic Neutrinos

2026-02-13 A guest post by | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

At −40 °F and 1.5 miles under the ice, the world's largest neutrino observatory is getting an upgrade: its measurement volume is being expanded to one cubic kilometer. German researchers have made an important contribution to this with crucial technology.

The above-ground part of the IceCube experiment and the graphic simulation of a measurement signal from the detectors in the ice. Researchers can measure cosmic neutrinos with the IceCube observatory.(Image: Stephan Richter, IceCube; photomontage: Beatrix von Puttkamer) — The above-ground part of the IceCube experiment and the graphic simulation of a measurement signal from the detectors in the ice. Researchers can measure cosmic neutrinos with the IceCube observatory.
(Image: Stephan Richter, IceCube; photomontage: Beatrix von Puttkamer)

At the coldest place on Earth, researchers have expanded one of the world's most extreme measurement projects: the IceCube observatory at the Amundsen-Scott South Polar Station measures cosmic neutrinos in 0.24 cubic miles of Antarctic ice. Six new measurement strings with 360-degree sensors have now been added.

10,000 Sensors Amplify Weak Light Signals

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) supplied the crucial component: 10,000 highly sensitive photoelectron multipliers that can amplify even the weakest light signals. "What's new about the optical sensors is that they are equipped with photoelectron multipliers in all directions. This gives us a 360-degree view of the ice," explains Dr. Andreas Haungs from the Institute of Astroparticle Physics at KIT.

The sensors have to function at −40 °F, are installed in 16 inches football-shaped glass containers and are lowered into the ice at depths of up to 1.5 miles on 0.9 miles-long cable harnesses.

Extreme Construction Under Tough Conditions

The chains with instruments are inserted into the shafts drilled into the Antarctic ice. shafts drilled into the Antarctic ice.(Image: Yuya Makino, IceCube/NSF) — The chains with instruments are inserted into the shafts drilled into the Antarctic ice. shafts drilled into the Antarctic ice.
(Image: Yuya Makino, IceCube/NSF)

The installation process is special. A hot water drill melts shafts 1.5 miles deep into the ice within two days. The measuring chains are then inserted and the shafts freeze over again. The result is an underground network of high-precision sensors that capture even the weakest light signals from neutrinos traveling through.

The KIT researchers also developed and built the surface instrumentation. It consists of scintillators and radio antennas that complete the system.

The IceCube-Gen2 Expands the Measuring Volume

Schematic representation of the underground part of the IceCube experiment with the addition of the upgrade (red).(Image: IceCube Collaboration) — Schematic representation of the underground part of the IceCube experiment with the addition of the upgrade (red).
(Image: IceCube Collaboration)

What is already impressive today is just the beginning. The researchers are already working on the second generation of the IceCube. This is intended to expand the measurement volume to 1.9 cubic miles. Germany is investing 65 million USD in the project, in which DESY and KIT are working together as equal sponsors.

"Gen2 enables neutrino astronomy at the highest energies. The result is a globally unique observatory that can measure neutrinos over an energy range of ten orders of magnitude," says Professor Ralph Engel, Head of the Institute for Astroparticle Physics at KIT.

The research project in the Antarctic is also impressive in terms of numbers. 450 researchers from 58 institutions in 14 countries are working together on IceCube under the leadership of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). Germany is the most important partner after the USA. The problem with the measurement is the neutrinos themselves. They pass through the universe almost undisturbed. Their rare reactions in ice produce charged particles that emit characteristic light cones. It is precisely these light cones that the German high-precision sensors measure. (heh)

The central acrylic glass sphere during an inspection of its optical properties. Above it, the photomultiplier tubes can be seen, which read the light from the scintillator, thereby making neutrinos detectable. (Image:JUNO)

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