NEXT Collaboration(Simon, A. et al), Felkai, R., Martinez-Lema, G., Sorel, M., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., et al. (2018). Electron drift properties in high pressure gaseous xenon. J. Instrum., 13, P07013–23pp.
Abstract: Gaseous time projection chambers (TPC) are a very attractive detector technology for particle tracking. Characterization of both drift velocity and diffusion is of great importance to correctly assess their tracking capabilities. NEXT-White is a High Pressure Xenon gas TPC with electroluminescent amplification, a 1:2 scale model of the future NEXT-100 detector, which will be dedicated to neutrinoless double beta decay searches. NEXT-White has been operating at Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) since December 2016. The drift parameters have been measured using Kr-83(m) for a range of reduced drift fields at two different pressure regimes, namely 7.2 bar and 9.1 bar. The results have been compared with Magboltz simulations. Agreement at the 5% level or better has been found for drift velocity, longitudinal diffusion and transverse diffusion.
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Andricek, L., Boronat, M., Fuster, J., Garcia, I., Gomis, P., Marinas, C., et al. (2016). Integrated cooling channels in position-sensitive silicon detectors. J. Instrum., 11, P06018–15pp.
Abstract: We present an approach to construct position-sensitive silicon detectors with an integrated cooling circuit. Tests on samples demonstrate that a very modest liquid flow very effectively cool the devices up to a power dissipation of over 10 W/cm(2). The liquid flow is found to have a negligible impact on the mechanical stability. A finite-element simulation predicts the cooling performance to an accuracy of approximately 10%.
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Aplin, S., Boronat, M., Dannheim, D., Duarte, J., Gaede, F., Ruiz-Jimeno, A., et al. (2013). Forward tracking at the next e(+)e(-) collider part II: experimental challenges and detector design. J. Instrum., 8, T06001–26pp.
Abstract: We present the second in a series of studies into the forward tracking system for a future linear e(+)e(-) collider with a center-of-mass energy in the range from 250 GeV to 3 TeV. In this note a number of specific challenges are investigated, which have caused a degradation of the tracking and vertexing performance in the forward region in previous experiments. We perform a quantitative analysis of the dependence of the tracking performance on detector design parameters and identify several ways to mitigate the performance loss for charged particles emitted at shallow angle.
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Kuehn, S. et al, Bernabeu, J., Lacasta, C., Marco-Hernandez, R., Santoyo, D., Solaz, C., et al. (2017). Prototyping of hybrids and modules for the forward silicon strip tracking detector for the ATLAS Phase-II upgrade. J. Instrum., 12, P05015–26pp.
Abstract: For the High-Luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider an increased instantaneous luminosity of up to 7.5 . 10(34) cm(-2) s(-1), leading to a total integrated luminosity of up to 3000 fb(-1), is foreseen. The current silicon and transition radiation tracking detectors of the ATLAS experiment will be unable to cope with the increased track densities and radiation levels, and will need to be replaced. The new tracking detector will consist entirely of silicon pixel and strip detectors. In this paper, results on the development and tests of prototype components for the new silicon strip detector in the forward regions (end-caps) of the ATLAS detector are presented. Flex-printed readout boards with fast readout chips, referred to as hybrids, and silicon detector modules are investigated. The modules consist of a hybrid glued onto a silicon strip sensor. The channels on both are connected via wire-bonds for readout and powering. Measurements of important performance parameters and a comparison of two possible readout schemes are presented. In addition, the assembly procedure is described and recommendations for further prototyping are derived.
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NEXT Collaboration(Cebrian, S. et al), Alvarez, V., Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., et al. (2015). Radiopurity assessment of the tracking readout for the NEXT double beta decay experiment. J. Instrum., 10, P05006–16pp.
Abstract: The “Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon Time-Projection Chamber” (NEXT) is intended to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136, which requires a severe suppression of potential backgrounds; therefore, an extensive screening and selection process is underway to control the radiopurity levels of the materials to be used in the experimental set-up of NEXT. The detector design combines the measurement of the topological signature of the event for background discrimination with the energy resolution optimization. Separate energy and tracking readout planes are based on different sensors: photomultiplier tubes for calorimetry and silicon multi-pixel photon counters for tracking. The design of a radiopure tracking plane, in direct contact with the gas detector medium, was specially challenging since the needed components like printed circuit boards, connectors, sensors or capacitors have typically, according to available information in databases and in the literature, activities too large for experiments requiring ultra-low background conditions. Here, the radiopurity assessment of tracking readout components based on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (Spain) is described. According to the obtained results, radiopure enough printed circuit boards made of kapton and copper, silicon photomultipliers and other required components, fulfilling the requirement of an overall background level in the region of interest of at most 8 x 10(-4) counts keV(-1) kg(-1) y(-1), have been identified.
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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Ball, M., Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., et al. (2013). Design and characterization of the SiPM tracking system of NEXT-DEMO, a demonstrator prototype of the NEXT-100 experiment. J. Instrum., 8, T05002–18pp.
Abstract: NEXT-100 experiment aims at searching the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the Xe-136 isotope using a TPC filled with a 100 kg of high-pressure gaseous xenon, with 90% isotopic enrichment. The experiment will take place at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC), Spain. NEXT-100 uses electroluminescence (EL) technology for energy measurement with a resolution better than 1% FWHM. The gaseous xenon in the TPC additionally allows the tracks of the two beta particles to be recorded, which are expected to have a length of up to 30 cm at 10 bar pressure. The ability to record the topological signature of the beta beta 0 nu events provides a powerful background rejection factor for the beta beta experiment. In this paper, we present a novel 3D imaging concept using SiPMs coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) for the EL read out and its first implementation in NEXT-DEMO, a large-scale prototype of the NEXT-100 experiment. The design and the first characterization measurements of the NEXT-DEMO SiPM tracking system are presented. The SiPM response uniformity over the tracking plane drawn from its gain map is shown to be better than 4%. An automated active control system for the stabilization of the SiPMs gain was developed, based on the voltage supply compensation of the gain drifts. The gain is shown to be stabilized within 0.2% relative variation around its nominal value, provided by Hamamatsu, in a temperature range of 10 degrees C. The noise level from the electronics and the SiPM dark noise is shown to lay typically below the level of 10 photoelectrons (pe) in the ADC. Hence, a detection threshold at 10 pe is set for the acquisition of the tracking signals. The ADC full dynamic range (4096 channels) is shown to be adequate for signal levels of up to 200 pe/mu s, which enables recording most of the tracking signals.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., et al. (2017). Performance of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker in Run 1 of the LHC: tracker properties. J. Instrum., 12, P05002–42pp.
Abstract: The tracking performance parameters of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) as part of the ATLAS inner detector are described in this paper for different data-taking conditions in proton-proton, proton-lead and lead-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The performance is studied using data collected during the first period of LHC operation (Run 1) and is compared with Monte Carlo simulations. The performance of the TRT, operating with two different gas mixtures (xenon-based and argon-based) and its dependence on the TRT occupancy is presented. These studies show that the tracking performance of the TRT is similar for the two gas mixtures and that a significant contribution to the particle momentum resolution is made by the TRT up to high particle densities.
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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.
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NEXT Collaboration(Woodruff, K. et al), Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Diaz, J., et al. (2020). Radio frequency and DC high voltage breakdown of high pressure helium, argon, and xenon. J. Instrum., 15(4), P04022–15pp.
Abstract: Motivated by the possibility of guiding daughter ions from double beta decay events to single-ion sensors for barium tagging, the NEXT collaboration is developing a program of R&D to test radio frequency (RF) carpets for ion transport in high pressure xenon gas. This would require carpet functionality in regimes at higher pressures than have been previously reported, implying correspondingly larger electrode voltages than in existing systems. This mode of operation appears plausible for contemporary RF-carpet geometries due to the higher predicted breakdown strength of high pressure xenon relative to low pressure helium, the working medium in most existing RF carpet devices. In this paper we present the first measurements of the high voltage dielectric strength of xenon gas at high pressure and at the relevant RF frequencies for ion transport (in the 10MHz range), as well as new DC and RF measurements of the dielectric strengths of high pressure argon and helium gases at small gap sizes. We find breakdown voltages that are compatible with stable RF carpet operation given the gas, pressure, voltage, materials and geometry of interest.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Abat, E. et al), Bernabeu Verdu, J., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Escobar, C., Ferrer, A., et al. (2011). Photon reconstruction in the ATLAS Inner Detector and Liquid Argon Barrel Calorimeter at the 2004 Combined Test Beam. J. Instrum., 6, P04001–40pp.
Abstract: The reconstruction of photons in the ATLAS detector is studied with data taken during the 2004 Combined Test Beam, where a full slice of the ATLAS detector was exposed to beams of particles of known energy at the CERN SPS. The results presented show significant differences in the longitudinal development of the electromagnetic shower between converted and unconverted photons as well as in the total measured energy. The potential to use the reconstructed converted photons as a means to precisely map the material of the tracker in front of the electromagnetic calorimeter is also considered. All results obtained are compared with a detailed Monte-Carlo simulation of the test-beam setup which is based on the same simulation and reconstruction tools as those used for the ATLAS detector itself.
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