Operation of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker under very high irradiation at the CERN LHC

The ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) performance depends critically on the choice of the active gas and on its properties. The most important operational aspects, which have led to the final choice of the active gas for the operation of the TRT at the LHC design luminosity, are presented. The TRT performance expected at these conditions is reviewed, including pile-up effects at high luminosity. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Straw tube drift-time properties and electronics parameters for the ATLAS TRT detector

The basic drift-time measurement properties of the proportional tubes (straws) of the ATLAS TRT detector and the impact of the parameters of the front-end electronics on performance are discussed. The performance of two different front-end electronics prototypes has been studied in detail at very high counting rate and is reported here. (9 refs)

An X-ray scanner for wire chambers

A study was performed on an x-ray scanner for wire chambers. The techniques to measure the position of sense wires and field wires, the gas gain and the gas flow rate inside the wire chambers using a collimated and filtered x-ray beam were also reported. The gain measurement provided important information on the uniformity of the electric field configuration

Aging studies for the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT)

A summary of the aging and material validation studies carried out for the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) is presented. Particular emphasis is put on the different phenomena observed in straw tubes operating with the chosen Xe/CF//4/CO//2 mixture. The most serious effects observed are silicon deposition on the anode wire and damage of the anode wire gold plating. Etching phenomena and active radical effects are also discussed. With a careful choice of all materials and components, and with good control of the water contamination in the active gas, the ATLAS TRT will operate reliably for 10 years at the LHC design luminosity. To demonstrate this fully, more work is still needed on the gas system purification elements, in particular to understand their interplay with the active species containing fluorine created in the avalanche process under irradiation

Tracking performance of the transition radiation tracker prototype for the ATLAS experiment

A prototype of the Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) for the ATLAS experiment at the CERN LHC has been built and tested at the CERN SPS. Detailed studies of the drift-time measurements, alignment technique, hit registration efficiency, track and momentum accuracy were performed. A coordinate measurement accuracy of 150 mu m for a single TRT drift tube and momentum resolution of 0.8% for 20 GeV pions in a 1.56 T magnetic field were achieved. The results obtained are in agreement with the expected tracking performance of the ATLAS TRT. (14 refs)

An X-ray scanner for wire chambers

The techniques to measure the position of sense wires and field wires, the gas gain and the gas flow rate inside wire chambers using a collimated and filtered X-ray beam are reported. Specific examples are given using barrel modules of the Transition Radiation Tracker of the ATLAS experiment

Particle Identification using the Time-over-Threshold Method in the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker

Test-beam studies of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) straw tube performance in terms of electron-pion separation using a time-over-threshold method are described. The test-beam data are compared with Monte Carlo simulations of charged particles passing through the straw tubes of the TRT. For energies below 10\,GeV, the time-over-threshold method combined with the standard transition-radiation cluster-counting technique significantly improves the electron-pion separation in the TRT. The use of the time-over-threshold information also provides some kaon-pion separation, thereby significantly enhancing the B-physics capabilities of the ATLAS detector

Acceptance tests and criteria of the ATLAS transition radiation tracker

The Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) sits at the outermost part of the ATLAS Inner Detector, encasing the Pixel Detector and the Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT). The TRT combines charged particle track reconstruction with electron identification capability. This is achieved by layers of xenonfilled straw tubes with periodic radiator foils or fibers providing TR photon emission. The design and choice of materials have been optimized to cope with the harsh operating conditions at the LHC, which are expected to lead to an accumulated radiation dose of 10 Mrad and a neutron fluence of up to 2 . 10(14) n/cm(2) after ten years of operation. The TRT comprises a barrel containing 52 000 axial straws and two end-cap parts with 320 000 radial straws. The total of 420 000 electronic channels (two channels per barrel straw) allows continuous tracking with many projective measurements (more than 30 straw hits per track). The assembly of the barrel modules in the US has recently been completed, while the end-cap wheel construction in Russia has reached the 50% mark. After testing at the production sites and shipment to CERN, all modules and wheels undergo a series of quality and conformity measurements. These acceptance tests survey dimensions, wire tension, gas-tightness, high-voltage stability and gas-gain uniformity along each individual straw. This paper gives details on the acceptance criteria and measurement methods. An overview of the most important results obtained to-date is also given