A slender string design for deep-sea neutrino telescopes

Abstract

In the context of the Design Study of the KM3NeT consortium for a new-generation deep-sea telescope in the Mediterranean Sea, several designs for vertical structures with optical sensors have been developed.We will present a design of a slender string with a single optical modules at regular intervals and a flexible electro-optical backbone cable with break-outs for each optical module.The design of the backbone cable allows for point-to-point communication between the optical sensors and the electronics onshore.The flexible slender string will be relatively easy to deploy using compact deployment methods,thus allowing for a timely realisation of the instrumentation of a sea-water volume larger than one cubic kilometre.