Composite mirror facets for ground based gamma ray astronomy

Composite mirrors for gamma-ray astronomy have been developed to fulfill the specifications required for the next generation of Cherenkov telescopes represented by CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array). In addition to the basic requirements on focus and reflection efficiency, the mirrors have to be stiff, lightweight, durable and cost efficient. In this paper, the technology developed to produce such mirrors is described, as well as some tests that have been performed to validate them. It is shown that these mirrors comply with the needs of CTA, making them good candidates for use on a significant part of the array.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted to be published on NIM

Mirror development for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a planned observatory for very-high energy gamma-ray astronomy. It will consist of several tens of telescopes of different sizes, with a total mirror area of up to 10,000 square meters. Most mirrors of current installations are either polished glass mirrors or diamond-turned aluminium mirrors, both labour intensive technologies. For CTA, several new technologies for a fast and cost-efficient production of light-weight and reliable mirror substrates have been developed and industrial pre-production has started for most of them. In addition, new or improved aluminium-based and dielectric surface coatings have been developed to increase the reflectance over the lifetime of the mirrors compared to those of current Cherenkov telescope instruments.Fil: Forster, A.. Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik; AlemaniaFil: Armstrong, T.. Durham University; Reino UnidoFil: Baba, H.. Ibaraki University; JapónFil: Bähr, J.. No especifíca;Fil: Bonardi, A.. Universitat Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Bonnoli, G.. Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera; ItaliaFil: Brun, P.. No especifíca;Fil: Canestrari, R.. Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera; ItaliaFil: Chadwick, P.. Durham University; Reino UnidoFil: Chikawa, M.. University of Tokyo; JapónFil: Carton, P.-H.. Centre de Saclay; FranciaFil: De Souza, V.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Dipold, J.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Doro, M.. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Durand, D.. No especifíca;Fil: Dyrda, M.. Polish Academy of Sciences; ArgentinaFil: Giro, E.. Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova; ItaliaFil: Glicenstein, J.-F.. No especifíca;Fil: Hanabata, Y.. Kinki University; JapónFil: Hayashida, M.. University of Tokyo; JapónFil: Hrabovski, M.. No especifíca;Fil: Jeanney, C.. Centre de Saclay; FranciaFil: Kagaya, M.. Ibaraki University; JapónFil: Katagiri, H.. Ibaraki University; JapónFil: Lessio, L.. Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova; ItaliaFil: Mandat, D.. Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic; República ChecaFil: Mariotti, M.. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Medina, Maria Clementina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía; ArgentinaFil: Yoshida, T.. Ibaraki University; Japón33rd International Cosmic Ray ConferenceRío de JaneiroBrasilBrazilian Physical Societ

Laser monitoring system for the CMS lead tungstate crystal calorimeter

We report on the multiple wavelength laser monitoring system designed for the CMS lead tungstate crystal calorimeter read-out with avalanche photodiodes (Barrel calorimeters) and vacuum phototriodes (End Cap calorimeters). Results are presented for the test beam performance of the system designed to achieve 0.5% relative inter-calibration of the optical transmittance for lead tungstate scintillation emission over nearly 80 000 channels. The system operates in continuous measurement cycles to follow each crystal?s evolution under irradiation and recovery periods foreseen during operation at the LHC

Simulation of the discharge propagation in a capillary tube in air at atmospheric pressure

International audienceThis paper presents simulations of an air plasma discharge at atmospheric pressure initiated by a needle anode set inside a dielectric capillary tube. We have studied the influence of the tube inner radius and its relative permittivity ε r on the discharge structure and dynamics. As a reference, we have used a relative permittivity ε r = 1 to study only the influence of the cylindrical constraint of the tube on the discharge. For a tube radius of 100 µm and ε r = 1, we have shown that the discharge fills the tube during its propagation and is rather homogeneous behind the discharge front. When the radius of the tube is in the range 300 to 600 µm, the discharge structure is tubular with peak values of electric field and electron density close to the dielectric surface. When the radius of the tube is larger than 700 µm, the tube has no influence on the discharge which propagates axially. For a tube radius of 100 µm, when ε r increases from 1 to 10, the discharge structure becomes tubular. We have noted that the velocity of propagation of the discharge in the tube increases when the front is more homogeneous and then, the discharge velocity increases with the decrease of the tube radius and ε r. Then, we have compared the relative influence of the value of tube radius and ε r on the discharge characteristics. Our simulations indicate that the geometrical constraint of the cylindrical tube has more influence than the value of ε r on the discharge structure and dynamics. Finally, we have studied the influence of photoemission processes on the discharge structure by varying the photoemission coefficient. As expected, we have shown that photoemission, as it increases the number of secondary electrons close to the dielectric surface, promotes the tubular structure of the discharge

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

Methane conversion in homogeneous discharge at atmospheric pressure in Ar-CH 4 mixtures

International audienceUV pre-ionized photo-triggered discharge reactor is used, its allows to work with an homogeneous plasma, a uniform electric field and a controllable deposition of electric energy in the plasma even at atmospheric pressure. The moderate values of the reduced electric field E/N, associated with the preceding properties, allows a 0D self-consistent physical and chemical modelling, without restrictive hypothesis on the physics of the energy deposition. Initial methane concentrations are in the range 250-1000 ppm at atmospheric pressure, chromatographic diagnostics are used to identify and quantify CH 4 and by-products

N-hexane abatement using a non-thermal plasma

International audienc

OH kinetics in photo-triggered discharges used for VOCs conversion

The kinetic of the hydroxyl radical is studied in N2/O2/H2O mixtures with small amounts of acetone or isopropyl alcohol (0.5%). The radical density is measured in absolute value in the afterglow of a photo-triggered discharge, which generates an homogeneous transient non-equilibrium plasma, using a time resolved absorption measurement method. For dry mixtures, experimental results are compared to predictions of a self-consistent 0D discharge and kinetic model. It is shown that dissociation of the VOCs through quenching collisions of nitrogen metastable states plays an important role in the production of OH. Measurements can not be explained looking only at the oxidation of acetone or IPA by the oxygen atom. This result is reinforced by experimental results about the OH density in wet mixtures, with or without VOCs, compared to dry ones

Effect of the gas flow rate on the spatiotemporal distribution of Ar(1s(5)) absolute densities in a ns pulsed plasma jet impinging on a glass surface

This work presents spatial (axial-z and transversal-y) and temporal distributions of Ar(1s(5)) metastable absolute densities in an atmospheric pressure argon micro-plasma jet impinging on an ungrounded glass surface. Guided streamers are generated with a DBD device driven by pulsed positive high voltages of 6 kV in amplitude, 224 +/- 3 ns in FWHM and 20 kHz in frequency. The argon flow rate is varied between 200 and 600 sccm. The glass plate is placed at 5 mm away from the reactor's nozzle and perpendicular to the streamers propagation. At these conditions, a diffuse stable discharge is established after the passage of the streamers allowing the quantification of the Ar(1s(5)) absolute density by means of a conventional TDLAS technique coupled with emission spectroscopy and ICCD imaging. The good reproducibility of the absorption signals is demonstrated. The experiments show the strong dependence of the maximum density (0.5-4 x 10(13) cm(-3)) on the gas flow rate and the axial and transversal position. At 200 sccm, high maximum densities (>2.4 x 10(13) cm(-3)) are obtained in a small area close to the plasma source, while with increasing flow rate this area expands towards the glass plate. In the transversal direction, density maxima are obtained in a small zone around the propagation axis of the streamers. Finally, a noticeable increase is measured on the Ar(1s(5)) effective lifetime close to the glass surface by varying the flow rate from 200 to 600 sccm. In overall, the effective lifetime varies between similar to 25 and similar to 550 ns, depending on the gas flow rate and the values of z and y coordinates. The results obtained suggest that the present system can be implemented in various applications and particularly in what concerns the detection of weakly volatile organic compounds present in trace amounts on different surfaces