A Scintillating Fiber Hodoscope for a Bremstrahlung Luminosity Monitor at an Electron−-Positron Collider

The performance of a scintillating fiber (2mm diameter) position sensitive detector ($4.8 \times 4.8$ cm$^2$ active area) for the single bremstrahlung luminosity monitor at the VEPP-2M electron-positron collider in Novosibirsk, Russia is described. Custom electronics is triggered by coincident hits in the X and Y planes of 24 fibers each, and reduces 64 PMT signals to a 10 bit (X,Y) address. Hits are accumulated (10 kHz) in memory and display (few Hz) the VEPP-2M collision vertex. Fitting the strongly peaked distribution ( $\sim$ 3-4 mm at 1.6m from the collision vertex of VEPP-2M ) to the expected QED angular distribution yields a background in agreement with an independent determination of the VEPP-2M luminosity.Comment: LaTeX with REVTeX style and options: multicol,aps. 8 pages, postscript figures separate from text. Accepted in Review of Scientific Instruments (~ Aug 1996

Description and Operation of the A3 Subscale Facility

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the general design and operation of the A3 Subscale test facility. The goal is to provide the reader with a general understanding of what the major facility systems are, where they are located, and how they are used to meet the objectives supporting the design of the A3 altitude rocket test facility. This paper also provides the reader with the background information prior to reading the subsequent papers detailing the design and test results of the various systems described herein

TARGET: A Digitizing And Trigger ASIC For The Cherenkov Telescope Array

The future ground-based gamma-ray observatory Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will feature multiple types of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, each with thousands of pixels. To be affordable, camera concepts for these telescopes have to feature low cost per channel and at the same time meet the requirements for CTA in order to achieve the desired scientific goals. We present the concept of the TeV Array Readout Electronics with GSa/s sampling and Event Trigger (TARGET) Application Specific Circuit (ASIC), envisaged to be used in the cameras of various CTA telescopes, e.g. the Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), a proposed 2-Mirror Small-Sized Telescope, and the Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT), a proposed Medium-Sized Telescope. In the latest version of this readout concept the sampling and trigger parts are split into dedicated ASICs, TARGET C and T5TEA, both providing 16 parallel input channels. TARGET C features a tunable sampling rate (usually 1 GSa/s), a 16k sample deep buffer for each channel and on-demand digitization and transmission of waveforms with typical spans of ~100 ns. The trigger ASIC, T5TEA, provides 4 low voltage differential signal (LVDS) trigger outputs and can generate a pedestal voltage independently for each channel. Trigger signals are generated by T5TEA based on the analog sum of the input in four independent groups of four adjacent channels and compared to a threshold set by the user. Thus, T5TEA generates four LVDS trigger outputs, as well as 16 pedestal voltages fed to TARGET C independently for each channel. We show preliminary results of the characterization and testing of TARGET C and T5TEA.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy (Gamma2016

Development of a sampling ASIC for fast detector signals

International audienceIn the context of the Large Area Picosecond Photodetector (LAPPD) pro ject the motivation to measure time-of-flight at the picosecond reso- lution has pushed towards a faster signal rise-time (below 100 ps) and a higher bandwidth output (higher than 1 GHz) detector, thus, leading to a new signal development and integrity studies of Micro-Channel Plates (MCP) photo-detectors. Similarly, the signal path, is being simulated and characterized, from the anodes to the input of the readout electronics, to minimise losses. Furthermore, to acquire the detector fast pulses a new 10 Gs/s high input bandwidth, 130 nm CMOS sampling chip is being de- veloped

Picosecond timing of Microwave Cherenkov Impulses from High-Energy Particle Showers Using Dielectric-loaded Waveguides

We report on the first measurements of coherent microwave impulses from high-energy particle-induced electromagnetic showers generated via the Askaryan effect in a dielectric-loaded waveguide. Bunches of 12.16 GeV electrons with total bunch energy of $\sim 10^3-10^4$ GeV were pre-showered in tungsten, and then measured with WR-51 rectangular (12.6 mm by 6.3 mm) waveguide elements loaded with solid alumina ($Al_2 O_3$) bars. In the 5-8 GHz $TE_{10}$ single-mode band determined by the presence of the dielectric in the waveguide, we observed band-limited microwave impulses with amplitude proportional to bunch energy. Signals in different waveguide elements measuring the same shower were used to estimate relative time differences with 2.3 picosecond precision. These measurements establish a basis for using arrays of alumina-loaded waveguide elements, with exceptional radiation hardness, as very high precision timing planes for high-energy physics detectors.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure

Observations of Microwave Continuum Emission from Air Shower Plasmas

We investigate a possible new technique for microwave measurements of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) extensive air showers which relies on detection of expected continuum radiation in the microwave range, caused by free-electron collisions with neutrals in the tenuous plasma left after the passage of the shower. We performed an initial experiment at the AWA (Argonne Wakefield Accelerator) laboratory in 2003 and measured broadband microwave emission from air ionized via high energy electrons and photons. A follow-up experiment at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) in summer of 2004 confirmed the major features of the previous AWA observations with better precision and made additional measurements relevant to the calorimetric capabilities of the method. Prompted by these results we built a prototype detector using satellite television technology, and have made measurements indicating possible detection of cosmic ray extensive air showers. The method, if confirmed by experiments now in progress, could provide a high-duty cycle complement to current nitrogen fluorescence observations of UHECR, which are limited to dark, clear nights. By contrast, decimeter microwave observations can be made both night and day, in clear or cloudy weather, or even in the presence of moderate precipitation.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure

Development Toward a Ground-Based Interferometric Phased Array for Radio Detection of High Energy Neutrinos

The in-ice radio interferometric phased array technique for detection of high energy neutrinos looks for Askaryan emission from neutrinos interacting in large volumes of glacial ice, and is being developed as a way to achieve a low energy threshold and a large effective volume at high energies. The technique is based on coherently summing the impulsive Askaryan signal from multiple antennas, which increases the signal-to-noise ratio for weak signals. We report here on measurements and a simulation of thermal noise correlations between nearby antennas, beamforming of impulsive signals, and a measurement of the expected improvement in trigger efficiency through the phased array technique. We also discuss the noise environment observed with an analog phased array at Summit Station, Greenland, a possible site for an interferometric phased array for radio detection of high energy neutrinos.Comment: 13 Pages, 14 Figure

Soil-atmosphere exchange of nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide in logged and undisturbed forest in the Tapajos National Forest, Brazil.

Selective logging is an extensive land use in the Brazilian Amazon region. The soil?atmosphere fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O), nitric oxide (NO), methane (CH4), and carbon dioxide (CO2) are studied on two soil types (clay Oxisol and sandy loam Ultisol) over two years (2000?01) in both undisturbed forest and forest recently logged using reduced impact forest management in the Tapajos National Forest, near Santarem, Para, Brazil. In undisturbed forest, annual soil?atmosphere fluxes of N2O (mean ± standard error) were 7.9 ± 0.7 and 7.0 ± 0.6 ng N cm?2 h?1 for the Oxisol and 1.7 ± 0.1 and 1.6 ± 0.3 ng N cm?2 h?1 for the Ultisol for 2000 and 2001, respectively. The annual fluxes of NO from undisturbed forest soil in 2001 were 9.0 ± 2.8 ng N cm?2 h?1 for the Oxisol and 8.8 ± 5.0 ng N cm?2 h?1 for the Ultisol. Consumption of CH4 from the atmosphere dominated over production on undisturbed forest soils. Fluxes averaged ?0.3 ± 0.2 and ?0.1 ± 0.9 mg CH4 m?2 day?1 on the Oxisol and ?1.0 ± 0.2 and ?0.9 ± 0.3 mg CH4 m?2 day?1 on the Ultisol for years 2000 and 2001. For CO2 in 2001, the annual fluxes averaged 3.6 ± 0.4 ?mol m?2 s?1 on the Oxisol and 4.9 ± 1.1 ?mol m?2 s?1 on the Ultisol. We measured fluxes over one year each from two recently logged forests on the Oxisol in 2000 and on the Ultisol in 2001. Sampling in logged areas was stratified from greatest to least ground disturbance covering log decks, skid trails, tree-fall gaps, and forest matrix. Areas of strong soil compaction, especially the skid trails and logging decks, were prone to significantly greater emissions of N2O, NO, and especially CH4. In the case of CH4, estimated annual emissions from decks reached extremely high rates of 531 ± 419 and 98 ± 41 mg CH4 m?2 day?1, for Oxisol and Ultisol sites, respectively, comparable to wetland emissions in the region. We calculated excess fluxes from logged areas by subtraction of a background forest matrix or undisturbed forest flux and adjusted these fluxes for the proportional area of ground disturbance. Our calculations suggest that selective logging increases emissions of N2O and NO from 30% to 350% depending upon conditions. While undisturbed forest was a CH4 sink, logged forest tended to emit methane at moderate rates. Soil?atmosphere CO2 fluxes were only slightly affected by logging. The regional effects of logging cannot be simply extrapolated based upon one site. We studied sites where reduced impact harvest management was used while in typical conventional logging ground damage is twice as great. Even so, our results indicate that for N2O, NO, and CH4, logging disturbance may be as important for regional budgets of these gases as other extensive land-use changes in the Amazon such as the conversion of forest to cattle pasture