The Gassiplex0.7-2 Integrated Front-End Analog Processor for the HMPID and the Dimuon Spectrometer of ALICE

The most recent member of the Gasplex family of ASICs has been designed in a 0.7 µm n-well CMOS process to meet specifications for the ALICE applications: 500 fC linear dynamic range and a peaking time of 1.2 µs. Its internal circuitry is optimized for the readout of gaseous detectors. A dedicated filter compensates the long hyperbolic signal tail produced by the slow drift of the ions and allows the shaper to achieve perfect return to the base line after 5 µs. Measurement of fabricated chips showed a noise performance of 530 e - rms at 0 pF external input capacitance and 1.2 µs peaking-time, with a noise slope of 11.2 e - rms/pF. The gain is 3.6 mv/fC over a linear dynamic range of 560 fC

Dilogic-2: A Sparse Data Scan Readout Processor for the HMPID Detector of ALICE

The processing of analog information is always spoiled by additional DC level and noise given by the sensors or their additional readout electronics. The Dilogic-2 ASICcircuit has been developed in a 0.7um n-well CMOS technologyto process the data given by Analog to Digital Converters, in order to eliminate the empty channels, to subtract the base line (pedestal) and to locally store the true analog information.(Abstract only available, full text willfollow

First observation of Cherenkov rings with a large area CsI-TGEM-based RICH prototype

We have built a RICH detector prototype consisting of a liquid C6F14 radiator and six triple Thick Gaseous Electron Multipliers (TGEMs), each of them having an active area of 10x10 cm2. One triple TGEM has been placed behind the liquid radiator in order to detect the beam particles, whereas the other five have been positioned around the central one at a distance to collect the Cherenkov photons. The upstream electrode of each of the TGEM stacks has been coated with a 0.4 micron thick CsI layer. In this paper, we will present the results from a series of laboratory tests with this prototype carried out using UV light, 6 keV photons from 55Fe and electrons from 90Sr as well as recent results of tests with a beam of charged pions where for the first time Cherenkov Ring images have been successfully recorded with TGEM photodetectors. The achieved results prove the feasibility of building a large area Cherenkov detector consisting of a matrix of TGEMs.Comment: Presented at the International Conference NDIP-11, Lyon,July201

MICROMEGAS chambers for hadronic calorimetry at a future linear collider

Prototypes of MICROMEGAS chambers, using bulk technology and analog readout, with 1x1cm2 readout segmentation have been built and tested. Measurements in Ar/iC4H10 (95/5) and Ar/CO2 (80/20) are reported. The dependency of the prototypes gas gain versus pressure, gas temperature and amplification gap thickness variations has been measured with an 55Fe source and a method for temperature and pressure correction of data is presented. A stack of four chambers has been tested in 200GeV/c and 7GeV/c muon and pion beams respectively. Measurements of response uniformity, detection efficiency and hit multiplicity are reported. A bulk MICROMEGAS prototype with embedded digital readout electronics has been assembled and tested. The chamber layout and first results are presented

A threshold imaging Cerenkov detector with CsI photocathodes

A Threshold Imaging Cherenkov (TIC) detector, in conjunction with a tracking device and a time-of-flight system, has been developed to allow pion, kaon and proton identification in the 3--8 GeV/$c$ range of momenta. The system allows spatial identification of the photons of particles above the Cherenkov threshold and their correlation to a particular track. The TIC detector uses a MWPC detector with a CsI coated photocathode for photon conversion. The results obtained in ultrarelativistic lead--lead collisions at the CERN SPS accelerator are presented

The Micromegas detector of the CAST experiment

A low background Micromegas detector has been operating in the CAST experiment at CERN for the search of solar axions during the first phase of the experiment (2002-2004). The detector, made out of low radioactivity materials, operated efficiently and achieved a very low level of background rejection (5 x 10^-5 counts/keV/cm^2/s) without shielding.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures and images, submitted to New Journal o

Nov sistem za identifikaciju čestica u području 3 − 8 GeV/c

A threshold imaging Cherenkov (TIC) detector, in conjunction with a tracking device, has been developed to allow pion/kaon, proton identification in the 3–8 GeV/c range of momenta. The most important feature of the system is that it allows spatial identification of the photons of particles above the Cherenkov threshold and their correlation to a particular track. The TIC detector uses a MWPC detector with TMAE for photon conversion into electrons. The first results obtained in ultrarelativistic lead–lead collisions at the CERN SPS accelerator are presented. In a recent development use of a solid CsI cathode instead of TMAE has been successfully tested in proton–lead collisions at the CERN SPS.Razvijen je pozicioni detektor fotona Cerenkovljeva zračenja iznad praga emisije (TIC), koji omogućuje (u sklopu sistema za mjerenje tragova čestica) razlikovanje piona od kaona i protona u području između praga emisije za pione i za kaone t.j između 3 i 8 GeV/c. Najbitnija odlika sistema jest mogućnost dvodimenzijske lokalizacije emitiranih fotona i njihovo jednoznačno pridruživanje određenom tragu čestice koji je odreden drugim detektorima. Detektor TIC primjenjuje višezičane proporcionalne komore s TMAE dodanom brojačkom plinu za konverziju fotona u elektrone. Prikazuju se prvi rezultati dobiveni u ultrarelativističkim sudarima iona olova s metom olova u SPS akceleratoru u CERNu. Nedavno je upotreba čvrstih fotokatoda umjesto TMAE bila uspješno iskušana procesima sudara protona s olovom u SPS akceleratoru

Nov sistem za identifikaciju čestica u području 3 − 8 GeV/c

A threshold imaging Cherenkov (TIC) detector, in conjunction with a tracking device, has been developed to allow pion/kaon, proton identification in the 3–8 GeV/c range of momenta. The most important feature of the system is that it allows spatial identification of the photons of particles above the Cherenkov threshold and their correlation to a particular track. The TIC detector uses a MWPC detector with TMAE for photon conversion into electrons. The first results obtained in ultrarelativistic lead–lead collisions at the CERN SPS accelerator are presented. In a recent development use of a solid CsI cathode instead of TMAE has been successfully tested in proton–lead collisions at the CERN SPS.Razvijen je pozicioni detektor fotona Cerenkovljeva zračenja iznad praga emisije (TIC), koji omogućuje (u sklopu sistema za mjerenje tragova čestica) razlikovanje piona od kaona i protona u području između praga emisije za pione i za kaone t.j između 3 i 8 GeV/c. Najbitnija odlika sistema jest mogućnost dvodimenzijske lokalizacije emitiranih fotona i njihovo jednoznačno pridruživanje određenom tragu čestice koji je odreden drugim detektorima. Detektor TIC primjenjuje višezičane proporcionalne komore s TMAE dodanom brojačkom plinu za konverziju fotona u elektrone. Prikazuju se prvi rezultati dobiveni u ultrarelativističkim sudarima iona olova s metom olova u SPS akceleratoru u CERNu. Nedavno je upotreba čvrstih fotokatoda umjesto TMAE bila uspješno iskušana procesima sudara protona s olovom u SPS akceleratoru

Final tests of the CsI-based ring imaging detector for the ALICE experiment

We report on the final tests performed on a CsI-based RICH detector equipped with 2 C$_6$F$_{14}$ radiator trays and 4 photocathodes, each of 64$\times$38 cm$^2$ area. The overall performance of the detector is described, using different gas mixtures, in view of optimizing the photoelectron yield and the pad occupancy. Test results under magnetic field up to 0.9 T, photocathode homogeneity and stability are presented

Nuclear structure and reaction studies at SPIRAL

The SPIRAL facility at GANIL, operational since 2001, is described briefly. The diverse physics program using the re-accelerated (1.2 to 25 MeV/u) beams ranging from He to Kr and the instrumentation specially developed for their exploitation are presented. Results of these studies, using both direct and compound processes, addressing various questions related to the existence of exotic states of nuclear matter, evolution of new "magic numbers", tunnelling of exotic nuclei, neutron correlations, exotic pathways in astrophysical sites and characterization of the continuum are discussed. The future prospects for the facility and the path towards SPIRAL2, a next generation ISOL facility, are also briefly presented.Comment: 48 pages, 27 figures. Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics