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Alesini, D., Boni, R., Di Pirro, G., Di Raddo, R., Ferrario, M., Gallo, A., et al. (2013). The C-Band accelerating structures for SPARC photoinjector energy upgrade. J. Instrum., 8, P05004–24pp.
Abstract: The use of C-Band structures for electron acceleration and production of high quality beams has been proposed and adopted in several linac projects all over the world. The two main projects that adopted such type of structures are the Japanese Free Electron Laser (FEL) project in Spring-8 and the SwissFEL project at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Also the energy upgrade of the SPARC photo-injector at LNF-INFN (Italy) from 150 to more than 240 MeV will be done by replacing a low gradient S-Band accelerating structure with two C-band structures. The structures are Traveling Wave (TW) and Constant Impedance (CI), have symmetric axial input couplers and have been optimized to work with a SLED RF input pulse. The paper presents the design criteria of the structures, the realization procedure and the low and high power RF test results on a prototype. The high power tests have been carried out by the Frascati INFN Laboratories in close collaboration with the Japanese Laboratory KEK. Experimental results confirmed the feasibility of the operation of the prototype at 50 MV/m with about 10(6) breakdowns per pulse per meter. Such high gradients have not been reached before in C-Band systems and demonstrated the possibility to use C-band accelerators, if needed, at such high field level. The results of the internal inspection of the structure after the high power test are also presented.
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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2013). Ionization and scintillation response of high-pressure xenon gas to alpha particles. J. Instrum., 8, P05025–35pp.
Abstract: High-pressure xenon gas is an attractive detection medium for a variety of applications in fundamental and applied physics. In this paper we study the ionization and scintillation detection properties of xenon gas at 10 bar pressure. For this purpose, we use a source of alpha particles in the NEXT-DEMO time projection chamber, the large scale prototype of the NEXT-100 neutrinoless double beta decay experiment, in three different drift electric field configurations. We measure the ionization electron drift velocity and longitudinal diffusion, and compare our results to expectations based on available electron scattering cross sections on pure xenon. In addition, two types of measurements addressing the connection between the ionization and scintillation yields are performed. On the one hand we observe, for the first time in xenon gas, large event-by-event correlated fluctuations between the ionization and scintillation signals, similar to that already observed in liquid xenon. On the other hand, we study the field dependence of the average scintillation and ionization yields. Both types of measurements may shed light on the mechanism of electron-ion recombination in xenon gas for highly-ionizing particles. Finally, by comparing the response of alpha particles and electrons in NEXT-DEMO, we find no evidence for quenching of the primary scintillation light produced by alpha particles in the xenon gas.
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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 Tile Calorimeter Community(Abdallah, J. et al), Castillo Gimenez, V., Costelo, J., Ferrer, A., Fullana, E., Gonzalez, V., et al. (2013). The optical instrumentation of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter. J. Instrum., 8, P01005–21pp.
Abstract: The Tile Calorimeter, covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment up to pseudorapidities of +/-1.7, is a sampling device built with scintillating tiles that alternate with iron plates. The light is collected in wave-length shifting (WLS) fibers and is read out with photomultipliers. In the characteristic geometry of this calorimeter the tiles lie in planes perpendicular to the beams, resulting in a very simple and modular mechanical and optical layout. This paper focuses on the procedures applied in the optical instrumentation of the calorimeter, which involved the assembly of about 460,000 scintillator tiles and 550,000 WLS fibers. The outcome is a hadronic calorimeter that meets the ATLAS performance requirements, as shown in this paper.
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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2013). Radiopurity control in the NEXT-100 double beta decay experiment: procedures and initial measurements. J. Instrum., 8, T01002–19pp.
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. An extensive screening and material selection process is underway for NEXT since the control of the radiopurity levels of the materials to be used in the experimental set-up is a must for rare event searches. First measurements based on Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry and gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (Spain) are described here. Activity results for natural radioactive chains and other common radionuclides are summarized, being the values obtained for some materials like copper and stainless steel very competitive. The implications of these results for the NEXT experiment are also discussed.
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Roman, F. L., Abler, D., Kanellopoulos, V., Amoros, G., Davies, J., Dosanjh, M., et al. (2013). Hadron therapy information sharing prototype. J. Radiat. Res., 54, 56–60.
Abstract: The European PARTNER project developed a prototypical system for sharing hadron therapy data. This system allows doctors and patients to record and report treatment-related events during and after hadron therapy. It presents doctors and statisticians with an integrated view of adverse events across institutions, using open-source components for data federation, semantics, and analysis. There is a particular emphasis upon semantic consistency, achieved through intelligent, annotated form designs. The system as presented is ready for use in a clinical setting, and amenable to further customization. The essential contribution of the work reported here lies in the novel data integration and reporting methods, as well as the approach to software sustainability achieved through the use of community-supported open-source components.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fassi, F., Ferrer, A., et al. (2013). Characterisation and mitigation of beam-induced backgrounds observed in the ATLAS detector during the 2011 proton-proton run. J. Instrum., 8, P07004–72pp.
Abstract: This paper presents a summary of beam-induced backgrounds observed in the ATLAS detector and discusses methods to tag and remove background contaminated events in data. Trigger-rate based monitoring of beam-related backgrounds is presented. The correlations of backgrounds with machine conditions, such as residual pressure in the beam-pipe, are discussed. Results from dedicated beam-background simulations are shown, and their qualitative agreement with data is evaluated. Data taken during the passage of unpaired, i.e. non-colliding, proton bunches is used to obtain background-enriched data samples. These are used to identify characteristic features of beam-induced backgrounds, which then are exploited to develop dedicated background tagging tools. These tools, based on observables in the Pixel detector, the muon spectrometer and the calorimeters, are described in detail and their efficiencies are evaluated. Finally an example of an application of these techniques to a monojet analysis is given, which demonstrates the importance of such event cleaning techniques for some new physics searches.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fassi, F., Ferrer, A., et al. (2013). Triggers for displaced decays of long-lived neutral particles in the ATLAS detector. J. Instrum., 8, P07015–35pp.
Abstract: A set of three dedicated triggers designed to detect long-lived neutral particles decaying throughout the ATLAS detector to a pair of hadronic jets is described. The efficiencies of the triggers for selecting displaced decays as a function of the decay position are presented for simulated events. The effect of pile-up interactions on the trigger efficiencies and the dependence of the trigger rate on instantaneous luminosity during the 2012 data-taking period at the LHC are discussed.
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BABAR Collaboration(Lees, J. P. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., & Villanueva-Perez, P. (2013). Time-integrated luminosity recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e(+)e(-) collider. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 726, 203–213.
Abstract: We describe a measurement of the time-integrated luminosity of the data collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider at the Upsilon(4S), Upsilon(3S), and Upsilon(2S) resonances and in a continuum region below each resonance. We measure the time-integrated luminosity by counting e(+)e(-)-> e(+)e(-) and (for the Upsilon(4S) only) e(+)e(-)->mu(+)mu(-) candidate events, allowing additional photons in the final state. We use data-corrected simulation to determine the cross-sections and reconstruction efficiencies for these processes, as well as the major backgrounds. Due to the large cross-sections of e(+)e(-)-> e(+)e(-) and e(+)e(-)->mu(+)mu(-), the statistical uncertainties of the measurement are substantially smaller than the systematic uncertainties. The dominant systematic uncertainties are due to observed differences between data and simulation, as well as uncertainties on the cross-sections. For data collected on the Upsilon(3S) and Upsilon(2S) resonances, an additional uncertainty arises due to Upsilon -> e(+)e(-)X background. For data collected off the Upsilon resonances, we estimate an additional uncertainty due to time dependent efficiency variations, which can affect the short off-resonance runs. The relative uncertainties on the luminosities of the on-resonance (off-resonance) samples are 0.43% (0.43%) for the Upsilon(4S), 0.58% (0.72%) for the Upsilon(3S), and 0.68% (0.88%) for the Upsilon(2S).
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fassi, F., Ferrer, A., et al. (2013). Search for excited electrons and muons in root s=8 TeV proton-proton collisions with the ATLAS detector. New J. Phys., 15, 093011–32pp.
Abstract: The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for excited electrons and excited muons in the channel pp -> ll* -> ll gamma, assuming that excited leptons are produced via contact interactions. The analysis is based on 13 fb(-1) of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. No evidence for excited leptons is found, and a limit is set at the 95% credibility level on the cross section times branching ratio as a function of the excited-lepton mass m(l*). For m(l*) >= 0.8 TeV, the respective upper limits on sigma B(l(*) -> l gamma) are 0.75 and 0.90 fb for the e* and mu* searches. Limits on sigma B are converted into lower bounds on the compositeness scale 3. In the special case where Lambda = m(l*), excited-electron and excited-muon masses below 2.2 TeV are excluded.
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