KM3NeT Collaboration(Aiello, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Colomer, M., Corredoira, I., et al. (2020). Deep-sea deployment of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope detection units by self-unrolling. J. Instrum., 15(11), P11027–18pp.
Abstract: KM3NeT is a research infrastructure being installed in the deep Mediterranean Sea. It will house a neutrino telescope comprising hundreds of networked moorings – detection units or strings – equipped with optical instrumentation to detect the Cherenkov radiation generated by charged particles from neutrino-induced collisions in its vicinity. In comparison to moorings typically used for oceanography, several key features of the KM3NeT string are different: the instrumentation is contained in transparent and thus unprotected glass spheres; two thin Dyneema (R) ropes are used as strength members; and a thin delicate backbone tube with fibre-optics and copper wires for data and power transmission, respectively, runs along the full length of the mooring. Also, compared to other neutrino telescopes such as ANTARES in the Mediterranean Sea and GVD in Lake Baikal, the KM3NeT strings are more slender to minimise the amount of material used for support of the optical sensors. Moreover, the rate of deploying a large number of strings in a period of a few years is unprecedented. For all these reasons, for the installation of the KM3NeT strings, a custom-made, fast deployment method was designed. Despite the length of several hundreds of metres, the slim design of the string allows it to be compacted into a small, re-usable spherical launching vehicle instead of deploying the mooring weight down from a surface vessel. After being lowered to the seafloor, the string unfurls to its full length with the buoyant launching vehicle rolling along the two ropes. The design of the vehicle, the loading with a string, and its underwater self-unrolling are detailed in this paper.
|
Guadilla, V., Algora, A., Estienne, M., Fallot, M., Gelletly, W., Porta, A., et al. (2024). First measurements with a new fl-electron detector for spectral shape studies. J. Instrum., 19(2), P02027–21pp.
Abstract: The shape of the electron spectrum emitted in /3 decay carries a wealth of information about nuclear structure and fundamental physics. In spite of that, few dedicated measurements have been made of /3 -spectrum shapes. In this work we present a newly developed detector for /3 electrons based on a telescope concept. A thick plastic scintillator is employed in coincidence with a thin silicon detector. The first measurements employing this detector have been carried out with mono -energetic electrons from the high-energy resolution electron -beam spectrometer at Bordeaux. Here we report on the good reproduction of the experimental spectra of mono -energetic electrons using Monte Carlo simulations. This is a crucial step for future experiments, where a detailed Monte Carlo characterization of the detector is needed to determine the shape of the /3 -electron spectra by deconvolution of the measured spectra with the response function of the detector. A chamber to contain two telescope assemblies has been designed for future /3 -decay experiments at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On -Line facility in Jyvaskyla, aimed at improving our understanding of reactor antineutrino spectra.
|
Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., & Ferrario, P. (2017). Monte Carlo study of the coincidence resolving time of a liquid xenon PET scanner, using Cherenkov radiation. J. Instrum., 12, P08023–13pp.
Abstract: In this paper we use detailed Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate that liquid xenon (LXe) can be used to build a Cherenkov-based TOF-PET, with an intrinsic coincidence resolving time (CRT) in the vicinity of 10 ps. This extraordinary performance is due to three facts: a) the abundant emission of Cherenkov photons by liquid xenon; b) the fact that LXe is transparent to Cherenkov light; and c) the fact that the fastest photons in LXe have wavelengths higher than 300 nm, therefore making it possible to separate the detection of scintillation and Cherenkov light. The CRT in a Cherenkov LXe TOF-PET detector is, therefore, dominated by the resolution (time jitter) introduced by the photosensors and the electronics. However, we show that for sufficiently fast photosensors (e.g, an overall 40 ps jitter, which can be achieved by current micro-channel plate photomultipliers) the overall CRT varies between 30 and 55 ps, depending on the detection efficiency. This is still one order of magnitude better than commercial CRT devices and improves by a factor 3 the best CRT obtained with small laboratory prototypes.
|
DUNE Collaboration(Abud, A. A. et al), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2022). Design, construction and operation of the ProtoDUNE-SP Liquid Argon TPC. J. Instrum., 17(1), P01005–111pp.
Abstract: The ProtoDUNE-SP detector is a single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) that was constructed and operated in the CERN North Area at the end of the H4 beamline. This detector is a prototype for the first far detector module of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), which will be constructed at the Sandford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, U.S.A. The ProtoDUNE-SP detector incorporates full-size components as designed for DUNE and has an active volume of 7 x 6 x 7.2 m3. The H4 beam delivers incident particles with well-measured momenta and high-purity particle identification. ProtoDUNE-SP's successful operation between 2018 and 2020 demonstrates the effectiveness of the single-phase far detector design. This paper describes the design, construction, assembly and operation of the detector components.
Keywords: Noble liquid detectors (scintillation, ionization, double-phase); Photon detectors for UV; visible and IR photons (solid-state) (PIN diodes, APDs, Si-PMTs, G-APDs, CCDs, EBCCDs, EMCCDs, CMOS imagers, etc); Scintillators; scintillation and light emission processes (solid, gas and liquid scintillators); Time projection Chambers (TPC)
|
DUNE Collaboration(Abud, A. A. et al), Amedo, P., Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., et al. (2023). Highly-parallelized simulation of a pixelated LArTPC on a GPU. J. Instrum., 18(4), P04034–35pp.
Abstract: The rapid development of general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) is allowing the implementation of highly-parallelized Monte Carlo simulation chains for particle physics experiments. This technique is particularly suitable for the simulation of a pixelated charge readout for time projection chambers, given the large number of channels that this technology employs. Here we present the first implementation of a full microphysical simulator of a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) equipped with light readout and pixelated charge readout, developed for the DUNE Near Detector. The software is implemented with an end-to-end set of GPU-optimized algorithms. The algorithms have been written in Python and translated into CUDA kernels using Numba, a just-in-time compiler for a subset of Python and NumPy instructions. The GPU implementation achieves a speed up of four orders of magnitude compared with the equivalent CPU version. The simulation of the current induced on 103 pixels takes around 1 ms on the GPU, compared with approximately 10 s on the CPU. The results of the simulation are compared against data from a pixel-readout LArTPC prototype.
|
Doncel, M., Cederwall, B., Martin, S., Quintana, B., Gadea, A., Farnea, E., et al. (2015). Conceptual design of a high resolution Ge array with tracking and imaging capabilities for the DESPEC (FAIR) experiment. J. Instrum., 10, P06010–15pp.
Abstract: We present results of Monte Carlo simulations for the conceptual design of the high-resolution DESPEC Germanium Array Spectrometer (DEGAS) proposed for the Facility for Ion and Antiproton Research (FAIR) under construction at Darmstadt, Germany. The project is carried out in three phases, although only results for the two first phases will be addressed in this work. The first phase will consist of a re-arrangement of the EUROBALL cluster detectors previously used in the RISING campaign at GSI. The second phase is based on coupling AGATA-type triple-cluster detectors with EUROBALL cluster detectors in a compact geometry around the active ion implantation target of DESPEC.
|
BRIKEN Collaboration(Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. et al), Tain, J. L., Domingo-Pardo, C., Agramunt, J., Algora, A., Morales, A. I., et al. (2017). Conceptual design of a hybrid neutron-gamma detector for study of beta-delayed neutrons at the RIB facility of RIKEN. J. Instrum., 12, P04006–22pp.
Abstract: BRIKEN is a complex detection system to be installed at the RIB-facility of the RIKEN Nishina Center. It is aimed at the detection of heavy-ion implants, β-particles, γ-rays and β-delayed neutrons. The whole detection setup involves the Advanced Implantation Detection Array (AIDA), two HPGe Clover detectors and a large set of 166 counters of 3He embedded in a high-density polyethylene matrix. This article reports on a novel methodology developed for the conceptual design and optimisation of the 3He-tubes array, aiming at the best possible performance in terms of neutron detection. The algorithm is based on a geometric representation of two selected parameters of merit, namely, average neutron detection efficiency and efficiency flatness, as a function of a reduced number of geometric variables. The response of the detection system itself, for each configuration, is obtained from a systematic MC-simulation implemented realistically in Geant4. This approach has been found to be particularly useful. On the one hand, due to the different types and large number of 3He-tubes involved and, on the other hand, due to the additional constraints introduced by the ancillary detectors for charged particles and gamma-rays. Empowered by the robustness of the algorithm, we have been able to design a versatile detection system, which can be easily re-arranged into a compact mode in order to maximize the neutron detection performance, at the cost of the gamma-ray sensitivity. In summary, we have designed a system which shows, for neutron energies up to 1(5) MeV, a rather flat and high average efficiency of 68.6%(64%) and 75.7%(71%) for the hybrid and compact modes, respectively. The performance of the BRIKEN system has been also quantified realistically by means of MC-simulations made with different neutron energy distributions.
|
Barrio, J., Etxebeste, A., Lacasta, C., Muñoz, E., Oliver, J. F., Solaz, C., et al. (2015). Performance of VATA64HDR16 ASIC for medical physics applications based on continuous crystals and SiPMs. J. Instrum., 10, P12001–12pp.
Abstract: Detectors based on Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) coupled to continuous crystals are being tested in medical physics applications due to their potential high resolution and sensitivity. To cope with the high granularity required for a very good spatial resolution, SiPM matrices with a large amount of elements are needed. To be able to read the information coming from each individual channel, dedicated ASICs are employed. The VATA64HDR16 ASIC is a 64-channel, charge-sensitive amplifier that converts the collected charge into a proportional current or voltage signal. A complete assessment of the suitability of that ASIC for medical physics applications based on continuous crystals and SiPMs has been carried out. The input charge range is linear from 20 pC up to 55 pC. The energy resolution obtained at 511 keV is 10% FWHM with a LaBr3 crystal and 16% FWHM with a LYSO crystal. A coincidence timing resolution of 24 ns FWHM is obtained with two LYSO crystals.
Keywords: Solid state detectors; Photon detectors for UV, visible and IR photons (solid-state) (PIN diodes, APDs, Si-PMTs, G-APDs, CCDs, EBCCDs, EMCCDs etc); Front-end electronics for detector readout; Gamma detectors (scintillators, CZT, HPG, HgI etc)
|
ATLAS TRT collaboration(Mindur, B. et al), Mitsou, V. A., & Valls Ferrer, J. A. (2016). Gas gain stabilisation in the ATLAS TRT detector. J. Instrum., 11, P04027–19pp.
Abstract: The ATLAS (one of two general purpose detectors at the LHC) Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) is the outermost of the three tracking subsystems of the ATLAS Inner Detector. It is a large straw-based detector and contains about 350,000 electronics channels. The performance of the TRT as tracking and particularly particle identification detector strongly depends on stability of the operation parameters with most important parameter being the gas gain which must be kept constant across the detector volume. The gas gain in the straws can vary significantly with atmospheric pressure, temperature, and gas mixture composition changes. This paper presents a concept of the gas gain stabilisation in the TRT and describes in detail the Gas Gain Stabilisation System (GGSS) integrated into the Detector Control System (DCS). Operation stability of the GGSS during Run-1 is demonstrated.
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Abat, E. et al), Bernabeu Verdu, J., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Escobar, C., Ferrer, A., et al. (2011). A layer correlation technique for pion energy calibration at the 2004 ATLAS Combined Beam Test. J. Instrum., 6, P06001–35pp.
Abstract: A new method for calibrating the hadron response of a segmented calorimeter is developed and successfully applied to beam test data. It is based on a principal component analysis of energy deposits in the calorimeter layers, exploiting longitudinal shower development information to improve the measured energy resolution. Corrections for invisible hadronic energy and energy lost in dead material in front of and between the calorimeters of the ATLAS experiment were calculated with simulated Geant4 Monte Carlo events and used to reconstruct the energy of pions impinging on the calorimeters during the 2004 Barrel Combined Beam Test at the CERN H8 area. For pion beams with energies between 20 GeV and 180 GeV, the particle energy is reconstructed within 3% and the energy resolution is improved by between 11% and 25% compared to the resolution at the electromagnetic scale.
|
