The T2K fine-grained detectors

T2K is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment searching for νeνe appearance in a νμνμ beam. The beam is produced at the J-PARC accelerator complex in Tokai, Japan, and the neutrinos are detected by the Super-Kamiokande detector located 295 km away in Kamioka. A suite of near detectors (ND280) located 280 m downstream of the production target is used to characterize the components of the beam before they have had a chance to oscillate and to better understand various neutrino interactions on several nuclei. This paper describes the design and construction of two massive fine-grained detectors (FGDs) that serve as active targets in the ND280 tracker. One FGD is composed solely of scintillator bars while the other is partly scintillator and partly water. Each element of the FGDs is described, including the wavelength shifting fiber and Multi-Pixel Photon Counter used to collect the light signals, the readout electronics, and the calibration system. Initial tests and in situ results of the FGDs' performance are also presented.