NEXT Collaboration(Cebrian, S. et al), Perez, J., Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J., Botas, A., Carcel, S., et al. (2017). Radiopurity assessment of the energy readout for the NEXT double beta decay experiment. J. Instrum., 12, T08003–20pp.
Abstract: The “Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon Time-Projection Chamber” (NEXT) experiment intends to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136, and therefore requires a severe suppression of potential backgrounds. An extensive material screening and selection process was undertaken to quantify the radioactivity of the materials used in the experiment. Separate energy and tracking readout planes using different sensors allow us to combine the measurement of the topological signature of the event for background discrimination with the energy resolution optimization. The design of radiopure readout planes, in direct contact with the gas detector medium, was especially challenging since the required components typically have activities too large for experiments demanding ultra-low background conditions. After studying the tracking plane, here the radiopurity control of the energy plane is presented, mainly based on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (Spain). All the available units of the selected model of photomultiplier have been screened together with most of the components for the bases, enclosures and windows. According to these results for the activity of the relevant radioisotopes, the selected components of the energy plane would give a contribution to the overall background level in the region of interest of at most 2.4 x 10(-4) counts keV(-1) kg(-1) y(-1), satisfying the sensitivity requirements of the NEXT experiment.
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Double Chooz collaboration(Abrahao, T. et al), & Novella, P. (2018). Novel event classification based on spectral analysis of scintillation waveforms in Double Chooz. J. Instrum., 13, P01031–26pp.
Abstract: Liquid scintillators are a common choice for neutrino physics experiments, but their capabilities to perform background rejection by scintillation pulse shape discrimination is generally limited in large detectors. This paper describes a novel approach for a pulse shape based event classification developed in the context of the Double Chooz reactor antineutrino experiment. Unlike previous implementations, this method uses the Fourier power spectra of the scintillation pulse shapes to obtain event-wise information. A classification variable built from spectral information was able to achieve an unprecedented performance, despite the lack of optimization at the detector design level. Several examples of event classification are provided, ranging from differentiation between the detector volumes and an efficient rejection of instrumental light noise, to some sensitivity to the particle type, such as stopping muons, ortho-positronium formation, alpha particles as well as electrons and positrons. In combination with other techniques the method is expected to allow for a versatile and more efficient background rejection in the future, especially if detector optimization is taken into account at the design level.
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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.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2019). Modelling radiation damage to pixel sensors in the ATLAS detector. J. Instrum., 14, P06012–52pp.
Abstract: Silicon pixel detectors are at the core of the current and planned upgrade of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Given their close proximity to the interaction point, these detectors will be exposed to an unprecedented amount of radiation over their lifetime. The current pixel detector will receive damage from non-ionizing radiation in excess of 10(15) 1 MeV n(eq)/cm(2), while the pixel detector designed for the high-luminosity LHC must cope with an order of magnitude larger fluence. This paper presents a digitization model incorporating effects of radiation damage to the pixel sensors. The model is described in detail and predictions for the charge collection efficiency and Lorentz angle are compared with collision data collected between 2015 and 2017 (<= 10(15) 1 MeV n(eq)/cm(2)).
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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.
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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. (2016). A measurement of material in the ATLAS tracker using secondary hadronic interactions in 7 TeV p p collisions. J. Instrum., 11, P11020–41pp.
Abstract: Knowledge of the material in the ATLAS inner tracking detector is crucial in under-standing the reconstruction of charged-particle tracks, the performance of algorithms that identify jets containing b-hadrons and is also essential to reduce background in searches for exotic particles that can decay within the inner detector volume. Interactions of primary hadrons produced in pp collisions with the material in the inner detector are used to map the location and amount of this material. The hadronic interactions of primary particles may result in secondary vertices, which in this analysis are reconstructed by an inclusive vertex-finding algorithm. Data were collected using minimum-bias triggers by the ATLAS detector operating at the LHC during 2010 at centre-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19 nb(-1). Kinematic properties of these secondary vertices are used to study the validity of the modelling of hadronic interactions in simulation. Secondary-vertex yields are compared between data and simulation over a volume of about 0.7m(3) around the interaction point, and agreement is found within overall uncertainties.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amoros, G., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., et al. (2012). A study of the material in the ATLAS inner detector using secondary hadronic interactions. J. Instrum., 7, P01013–40pp.
Abstract: The ATLAS inner detector is used to reconstruct secondary vertices due to hadronic interactions of primary collision products, so probing the location and amount of material in the inner region of ATLAS. Data collected in 7 TeV pp collisions at the LHC, with a minimum bias trigger, are used for comparisons with simulated events. The reconstructed secondary vertices have spatial resolutions ranging from similar to 200 μm to 1 mm. The overall material description in the simulation is validated to within an experimental uncertainty of about 7%. This will lead to a better understanding of the reconstruction of various objects such as tracks, leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum.
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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.
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Poley, L., Stolzenberg, U., Schwenker, B., Frey, A., Gottlicher, P., Marinas, C., et al. (2021). Mapping the material distribution of a complex structure in an electron beam. J. Instrum., 16(1), P01010–33pp.
Abstract: The simulation and analysis of High Energy Physics experiments require a realistic simulation of the detector material and its distribution. The challenge is to describe all active and passive parts of large scale detectors like ATLAS in terms of their size, position and material composition. The common method for estimating the radiation length by weighing individual components, adding up their contributions and averaging the resulting material distribution over extended structures provides a good general estimate, but can deviate significantly from the material actually present. A method has been developed to assess its material distribution with high spatial resolution using the reconstructed scattering angles and hit positions of high energy electron tracks traversing an object under investigation. The study presented here shows measurements for an extended structure with a highly inhomogeneous material distribution. The structure under investigation is an End-of-Substructure-card prototype designed for the ATLAS Inner Tracker strip tracker – a PCB populated with components of a large range of material budgets and sizes. The measurements presented here summarise requirements for data samples and reconstructed electron tracks for reliable image reconstruction of large scale, inhomogeneous samples, choices of pixel sizes compared to the size of features under investigation as well as a bremsstrahlung correction for high material densities and thicknesses.
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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). Study of the material of the ATLAS inner detector for Run 2 of the LHC. J. Instrum., 12, P12009–59pp.
Abstract: The ATLAS inner detector comprises three different sub-detectors: the pixel detector, the silicon strip tracker, and the transition-radiation drift-tube tracker. The Insertable B-Layer, a new innermost pixel layer, was installed during the shutdown period in 2014, together with modifications to the layout of the cables and support structures of the existing pixel detector. The material in the inner detector is studied with several methods, using a low-luminosity root s = 13 TeV pp collision sample corresponding to around 2.0 nb(-1) collected in 2015 with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In this paper, the material within the innermost barrel region is studied using reconstructed hadronic interaction and photon conversion vertices. For the forward rapidity region, the material is probed by a measurement of the efficiency with which single tracks reconstructed from pixel detector hits alone can be extended with hits on the track in the strip layers. The results of these studies have been taken into account in an improved description of the material in the ATLAS inner detector simulation, resulting in a reduction in the uncertainties associated with the charged-particle reconstruction efficiency determined from simulation.
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