A scintillator and radio enhancement of the IceCube surface detector array

An upgrade of IceTop with an array of scintillator panels is under consideration. The proposed enhancement foresees the deployment of 37 stations of 7 detectors each within the present IceTop area. Taking advantage of the infrastructure that the scintillator array will provide, installation of radio antennas is also being considered which will transform the surface array into a multi-component detector. The enhanced array will calibrate the impact of snow accumulation on the reconstruction of cosmic-ray showers detected by IceTop as well as improve the veto capabilities of the surface array. In addition, such a hybrid surface array of radio antennas, scintillators and Cherenkov tanks will enable a number of complementary science targets for IceCube such as enhanced accuracy to mass composition of cosmic rays, search for PeV photons from the Galactic Center, or more thorough tests of the hadronic interaction models. Two prototype stations with 7 scintillation detectors each have been already deployed at the South Pole in January 2018