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Fernandes, L. M. P., Freitas, E. D. C., Ball, M., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Monteiro, C. M. B., Yahlali, N., et al. (2010). Primary and secondary scintillation measurements in a Xenon Gas Proportional Scintillation Counter. J. Instrum., 5, P09006–15pp.
Abstract: NEXT is a new experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay using a 100 kg radio-pure high-pressure gaseous xenon TPC. The detector requires excellent energy resolution, which can be achieved in a Xe TPC with electroluminescence readout. Hamamatsu R8520-06SEL photomultipliers are good candidates for the scintillation readout. The performance of this photomultiplier, used as VUV photosensor in a gas proportional scintillation counter, was investigated. Initial results for the detection of primary and secondary scintillation produced as a result of the interaction of 5.9 keV X-rays in gaseous xenon, at room temperature and at pressures up to 3 bar, are presented. An energy resolution of 8.0% was obtained for secondary scintillation produced by 5.9 keV X-rays. No significant variation of the primary scintillation was observed for different pressures (1, 2 and 3 bar) and for electric fields up to 0.8 V cm(-1) torr(-1) in the drift region, demonstrating negligible recombination luminescence. A primary scintillation yield of 81 +/- 7 photons was obtained for 5.9 keV X-rays, corresponding to a mean energy of 72 +/- 6 eV to produce a primary scintillation photon in xenon.
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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). 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.
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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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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(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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