NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2013). Operation and first results of the NEXT-DEMO prototype using a silicon photomultiplier tracking array. J. Instrum., 8, P09011–20pp.
Abstract: NEXT-DEMO is a high-pressure xenon gas TPC which acts as a technological test-bed and demonstrator for the NEXT-100 neutrinoless double beta decay experiment. In its current configuration the apparatus fully implements the NEXT-100 design concept. This is an asymmetric TPC, with an energy plane made of photomultipliers and a tracking plane made of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) coated with TPB. The detector in this new configuration has been used to reconstruct the characteristic signature of electrons in dense gas, demonstrating the ability to identify the MIP and “blob” regions. Moreover, the SiPM tracking plane allows for the definition of a large fiducial region in which an excellent energy resolution of 1.82% FWHM at 511 keV has been measured (a value which extrapolates to 0.83% at the xenon Q(beta beta)).
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Renner, J., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Hernando, J. A., Izmaylov, A., Monrabal, F., Muñoz, J., et al. (2015). Improved background rejection in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments using a magnetic field in a high pressure xenon TPC. J. Instrum., 10, P12020–19pp.
Abstract: We demonstrate that the application of an external magnetic field could lead to an improved background rejection in neutrinoless double-beta (0 nu beta beta) decay experiments using a high-pressure xenon (HPXe) TPC. HPXe chambers are capable of imaging electron tracks, a feature that enhances the separation between signal events (the two electrons emitted in the 0 nu beta beta decay of Xe-136) and background events, arising chiefly from single electrons of kinetic energy compatible with the end-point of the 0 nu beta beta decay (Q(beta beta)). Applying an external magnetic field of sufficiently high intensity (in the range of 0.5-1 Tesla for operating pressures in the range of 5-15 atmospheres) causes the electrons to produce helical tracks. Assuming the tracks can be properly reconstructed, the sign of the curvature can be determined at several points along these tracks, and such information can be used to separate signal (0 nu beta beta) events containing two electrons producing a track with two different directions of curvature from background (single-electron) events producing a track that should spiral in a single direction. Due to electron multiple scattering, this strategy is not perfectly efficient on an event-by-event basis, but a statistical estimator can be constructed which can be used to reject background events by one order of magnitude at a moderate cost (about 30%) in signal efficiency. Combining this estimator with the excellent energy resolution and topological signature identification characteristic of the HPXe TPC, it is possible to reach a background rate of less than one count per ton-year of exposure. Such a low background rate is an essential feature of the next generation of 0 nu beta beta experiments, aiming to fully explore the inverse hierarchy of neutrino masses.
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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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Korichi, A., Lauritsen, T., Wilson, A. N., Dudouet, J., Clement, E., Lalovic, N., et al. (2017). Performance of a gamma-ray tracking array: Characterizing the AGATA array using a Co-60 source. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 872, 80–86.
Abstract: The AGATA (Advanced GAmma Tracking Array) tracking detector is being designed to far surpass the performance of the previous generation, Compton-suppressed arrays. In this paper, a characterization of AGATA is provided based on data from the second GSI campaign. Emphasis is placed on the proper corrections required to extract the absolute photopeak efficiency and peak-to-total ratio. The performance after tracking is extracted and GEANT4 simulations are used both to understand the results and to scale the measurements up to predicted values for the full 4 pi implementation of the device.
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Lauritsen, T. et al, & Perez-Vidal, R. M. (2016). Characterization of a gamma-ray tracking array: A comparison of GRETINA and Gammasphere using a Co-60 source. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 836, 46–56.
Abstract: In this paper; we provide a formalism for the characterization of tracking arrays with emphasis on the proper corrections required to extract their photopeak efficiencies and peak-to-total ratios. The methods are first applied to Gammasphere, a well characterized 4 pi array based on the principle of Compton suppression, and subsequently to GRETINA. The tracking efficiencies are then discussed and some guidelines as to what clustering angle to use in the tracking algorithm are presented. It was possible, using GEANT4 simulations, to scale the measured efficiencies up to the expected values for the full 4 pi implementation of GRETA.
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Poley, L., Blue, A., Bloch, I., Buttar, C., Fadeyev, V., Fernandez-Tejero, J., et al. (2019). Mapping the depleted area of silicon diodes using a micro-focused X-ray beam. J. Instrum., 14, P03024–14pp.
Abstract: For the Phase-II Upgrade of the ATLAS detector at CERN, the current ATLAS Inner Detector will be replaced with the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk). The ITk will be an all-silicon detector, consisting of a pixel tracker and a strip tracker. Sensors for the ITk strip tracker are required to have a low leakage current up to bias voltages of 500V to maintain a low noise and power dissipation. In order to minimise sensor leakage currents, particularly in the high-radiation environment inside the ATLAS detector, sensors are foreseen to be operated at low temperatures and to be manufactured from wafers with a high bulk resistivity of several k Omega.cm. Simulations showed the electric field inside sensors with high bulk resistivity to extend towards the sensor edge, which could lead to increased surface currents for narrow dicing edges. In order to map the electric field inside biased silicon sensors with high bulk resistivity, three diodes from ATLAS silicon strip sensor prototype wafers were studied with a monochromatic, micro-focused X-ray beam at the Diamond Light Source (Didcot, U.K.). For all devices under investigation, the electric field inside the diode was mapped and its dependence on the applied bias voltage was studied.
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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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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Bernabeu Verdu, J., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fassi, F., et al. (2014). Operation and performance of the ATLAS semiconductor tracker. J. Instrum., 9, P08009–73pp.
Abstract: The semiconductor tracker is a silicon microstrip detector forming part of the inner tracking system of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The operation and performance of the semiconductor tracker during the first years of LHC running are described. More than 99% of the detector modules were operational during this period, with an average intrinsic hit efficiency of (99.74 +/- 0.04)%. The evolution of the noise occupancy is discussed, and measurements of the Lorentz angle, delta-ray production and energy loss presented. The alignment of the detector is found to be stable at the few-micron level over long periods of time. Radiation damage measurements, which include the evolution of detector leakage currents, are found to be consistent with predictions and are used in the verification of radiation background simulations.
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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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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2014). Description and commissioning of NEXT-MM prototype: first results from operation in a Xenon-Trimethylamine gas mixture. J. Instrum., 9, P03010–22pp.
Abstract: A technical description of NEXT-MM and its commissioning and first performance is reported. Having an active volume of similar to 35 cm drift x 28 cm diameter, it constitutes the largest Micromegas-read TPC operated in Xenon ever constructed, made by a sectorial arrangement of the 4 largest single wafers manufactured with the Microbulk technique to date. It is equipped with a suitably pixelized readout and with a sufficiently large sensitive volume (similar to 23 l) so as to contain long (similar to 20 cm) electron tracks. First results obtained at 1 bar for Xenon and Trymethylamine (Xe-(2%) TMA) mixture are presented. The TPC can accurately reconstruct extended background tracks. An encouraging full-width half-maximum of 11.6% was obtained for similar to 29 keV gammas without resorting to any data post-processing.
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