Carrio, F., Castillo Gimenez, V., Ferrer, A., Gonzalez, V., Higon-Rodriguez, E., Marin, C., et al. (2011). Optical Link Card Design for the Phase II Upgrade of TileCal Experiment. IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 58(4), 1657–1663.
Abstract: This paper presents the design of an optical link card developed in the frame of the R&D activities for the phase 2 upgrade of the TileCal experiment. This board, that is part of the evaluation of different technologies for the final choice in the next years, is designed as a mezzanine that can work independently or be plugged in the optical multiplexer board of the TileCal backend electronics. It includes two SNAP 12 optical connectors able to transmit and receive up to 75 Gb/s and one SFP optical connector for lower speeds and compatibility with existing hardware as the read out driver. All processing is done in a Stratix II GX field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Details are given on the hardware design, including signal and power integrity analysis, needed when working with these high data rates and on firmware development to obtain the best performance of the FPGA signal transceivers and for the use of the GBT protocol.
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Miñano, M. (2011). Radiation Hard Silicon Strips Detectors for the SLHC. IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 58(3), 1135–1140.
Abstract: While the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) began taking data in 2009, scenarios for a machine upgrade to achieve a much higher luminosity are being developed. In the current planning, it is foreseen to increase the luminosity of the LHC at CERN around 2018. As radiation damage scales with integrated luminosity, the particle physics experiments will need to be equipped with a new generation of radiation hard detectors. This article reports on the status of the R&D projects on radiation hard silicon strips detectors for particle physics, linked to the Large Hadron Collider Upgrade, super-LHC (sLHC) of the ATLAS microstrip detector. The primary focus of this report is on measuring the radiation hardness of the silicon materials and the detectors under study. This involves designing silicon detectors, irradiating them to the sLHC radiation levels and studying their performance as particle detectors. The most promising silicon detector for the different radiation levels in the different regions of the ATLAS microstrip detector will be presented. Important challenges related to engineering layout, powering, cooling and reading out a very large strip detector are presented. Ideas on possible schemes for the layout and support mechanics will be shown.
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Nguyen, C. V., Gillam, J. E., Brown, J. M. C., Martin, D. V., Nikulin, D. A., & Dimmock, M. R. (2011). Towards Optimal Collimator Design for the PEDRO Hybrid Imaging System. IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 58(3), 639–650.
Abstract: The Pixelated Emission Detector for RadiOisotopes (PEDRO) is a hybrid imaging system designed for the measurement of single photon emission from small animal models. The proof-of-principle device consists of a Compton-camera situated behind a mechanical collimator and is intended to provide optimal detection characteristics over a broad spectral range, from 30 to 511 keV. An automated routine has been developed for the optimization of large-area slits in the outer regions of a collimator which has a central region allocated for pinholes. The optimization was tested with a GEANT4 model of the experimental prototype. The data were blurred with the expected position and energy resolution parameters and a Bayesian interaction ordering algorithm was applied. Images were reconstructed using cone back-projection. The results show that the optimization technique allows the large-area slits to both sample fully and extend the primary field of view (FoV) determined by the pinholes. The slits were found to provide truncation of the back-projected cones of response and also an increase in the success rate of the interaction ordering algorithm. These factors resulted in an increase in the contrast and signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed image estimates. Of the two configurations tested, the cylindrical geometry outperformed the square geometry, primarily because of a decrease in artifacts. This was due to isotropic modulation of the cone surfaces, that can be achieved with a circular shape. Also, the cylindrical geometry provided increased sampling of the FoV due to more optimal positioning of the slits. The use of the cylindrical collimator and application of the transmission function in the reconstruction was found to improve the resolution of the system by a factor of 20, as compared to the uncollimated Compton camera. Although this system is designed for small animal imaging, the technique can be applied to any application of single photon imaging.
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Forero, D. V., & Guzzo, M. M. (2011). Constraining nonstandard neutrino interactions with electrons. Phys. Rev. D, 84(1), 013002–7pp.
Abstract: We update the phenomenological constraints of the nonstandard neutrino interactions (NSNI) with electrons including in the analysis, for the first time, data from LAMPF, Krasnoyarsk, and the latest Texono observations. We assume that NSNI modify the cross section of elastic scattering of (anti) neutrinos off electrons, using reactor and accelerator data, and the cross section of the electron-positron annihilation, using the four LEP experiments, in particular, new data from DELPHI. We find more restrictive allowed regions for the NSNI parameters: -0.11< epsilon(eR)(ee) < 0.05 and -0.02 < epsilon(eL)(ee) < 0.09 (90% C.L.). We also recalculate the parameters of tauonic flavor obtaining -0.35 < epsilon(eR)(tau tau) < 0.50 and -0.51 < epsilon(eL)(tau tau) < 0.34 (90% C.L.). Although more severe than the limits already present in the literature, our results indicate that NSNI are allowed by the present data as a subleading effect, and the standard electroweak model continues consistent with the experimental panorama at 90% C.L. Further improvement on this picture will deserve a lot of engagement of upcoming experiments.
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Krolas, W. et al, & Gadea, A. (2011). Coupling of the proton-hole and neutron-particle states in the neutron-rich (48)K isotope. Phys. Rev. C, 84(6), 064301–8pp.
Abstract: Excited states in the Z = 19, N = 29 neutron-rich (48)K isotope have been studied using deep-inelastic transfer reactions with a thick target at Gammasphere and with a thin target at the PRISMA-CLARA spectrometer. The lowest excited states were located; they involve a proton hole in the s(1/2) or d(3/2) orbital coupled to a p(3/2) neutron. A new 7.1(5)-ns, 5(+) isomer, the analog of the 7/2 isomer in (47)K, was identified. Based on the observed gamma-decay pattern of the isomer a revised spin-parity assignment of 1(-) is proposed for the ground state of (48)K.
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