Broadband RF Phased Array Design for UHE neutrino detection

Radio-frequency (RF) phased array systems have a wide variety of applications in engineering and physics research. Among these applications is ultra-high energy neutrino (UHE-nu) detection above 100 PeV via the Askaryan effect. Phased array design usually requires numerical modeling with expensive commercial computational packages. Using the open-source MIT Electrogmagnetic Equation Propagation (MEEP) package, a set of phased array designs relevant for UHE-nu detection is presented. Specifically, one-dimensional arrays of Yagi-Uda and horn antennas were modeled in the bandwidth of the Askaryan effect [0.1 - 5] GHz, and compared to theoretical expectations. Precise matches between MEEP simulation and radiation pattern predictions at different frequencies and beam angles are demonstrated. Finally, the effect of embedding a phased array within Antarctic ice is studied. Askaryan-class UHE-nu detectors are being constructed in Antarctic ice because it is an ideal detection medium for UHE-nu Future work will develop the phased array concepts with parallel MEEP, in order to increase the detail, complexity, and speed of the computations.