MRI: track 2: next generation electronics for KAMLAND2-ZEN

The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded the Trustees of Boston University $2,729,352 on August 15, 2026, under the Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) to acquire, calibrate, and commission advanced data acquisition electronics for the international KamLAND2-Zen neutrino physics experiment in Japan.

The award funds the acquisition of custom radio-frequency system-on-a-chip (RFSoC)-based electronics that will digitize signals from 1,879 photomultiplier tubes in the KamLAND2-Zen detector. These electronics reduce acquisition dead time, enable advanced real-time signal processing, and support embedded artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for detector triggering and event reconstruction. Boston University will assemble, test, calibrate, commission, and deploy the electronics while developing firmware, calibration methods, and validation procedures for reliable long-term detector operation.

The project supports hands-on training for undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and engineers in advanced instrumentation, firmware, and scientific data acquisition. Boston University will also establish training workshops and develop openly available educational resources focused on embedded AI for scientific instrumentation, providing practical experience in firmware development, real-time signal processing, and AI deployment on detector electronics.

The instrumentation supports neutrinoless double-beta decay searches aimed at determining whether neutrinos are their own antiparticles, addressing fundamental questions about matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. Work is performed in Boston, Massachusetts with a period of performance extending through July 31, 2029.

Abstract

Understanding why the universe is made almost entirely of matter, rather than equal amounts of matter and antimatter, remains one of the most important unanswered questions in modern physics. Neutrinos may hold the key to this mystery through an extremely rare nuclear process known as neutrinoless double-beta decay. This award supports the acquisition, calibration, and commissioning of advanced data acquisition electronics for the international KAMLAND2-ZEN experiment in japan, providing a critical research instrument for the next generation of neutrinoless double-beta decay searches aimed at determining whether neutrinos are their own antiparticles. Beyond enabling transformative scientific discovery, the project will provide hands-on training for undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and engineers in advanced instrumentation, firmware, and scientific data acquisition. The project will also establish training workshops and openly available educational resources focused on embedded AI for scientific instrumentation that give students and researchers practical experience in firmware development, real-time signal processing, and AI deployment on detector electronics. The award supports the acquisition of custom radio-frequency system-on-a-chip (RFSOC)-based electronics that will digitize signals from the 1,879 photomultiplier tubes of the KAMLAND2-ZEN detector. These electronics will improve detector performance by reducing acquisition dead time, enabling advanced real-time signal processing, and supporting embedded AI and machine learning techniques for detector triggering and event reconstruction. The PI and collaborating institutions will assemble, test, calibrate, commission, and deploy the electronics while developing the firmware, calibration methods, and validation procedures needed for reliable long-term detector operation. The resulting instrumentation will strengthen U.S. Leadership in neutrino physics, advance next generation detector instrumentation, and enable future innovations in rare-event detection and AI-enabled data acquisition. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.