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At least 19 records

A Potential Method for Diagnostics of Subfemtosecond Electron Beams Using Coherent Optical Transition Radiation

Coherent transition radiation (CTR) is widely used in determining the longitudinal e-beam dimensions in the accelerator technology applications. In this study, the CTR process is investigated in a real Au-target for the sake of measuring the size characteristics of the electron bunches with lengths from 100 to 300 nm, and possible applications of such targets is demonstrated.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Laser pulse driven terahertz generation via resonant transition radiation in inhomogeneous plasmas

An intense, short laser pulse propagating across a plasma boundary ponderomotively drives THz radiation. Full format PIC simulations and theoretical analysis are conducted to investigate the properties of this radiation. Simulation results which show the THz emission originates in regions of varying density and covers a broad spectrum with maximum frequency close to the maximum plasma frequency. In the case of a sharp vacuum-plasma boundary, the radiation is generated symmetrically at the plasma entrance and exit, and its properties are independent of plasma density when the density exceeds a characteristic value determined by the product of the plasma frequency and the laser pulse duration. For a diffuse vacuum-plasma boundary, the emission from the plasma entrance and exit is asymmetric: increasing and decreasing density ramps enhance and diminish the radiated energy, respectively. Enhancements by a factor of 50 are found and simulations show that a 1.66 J, 50 fs driver pulse can generate ∼400 μJ of THz radiation in a 1.2 mm increasing density ramp. We present a model that attributes this effect to a plasma resonance process in the density ramp. The results from the model match those of the simulations for ramp lengths less than 600 μm. For longer ramps for which simulations are too time consuming, the model shows that the amount of radiation reaches a maximum at a ramp length determined by collisional absorption.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Performance of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker in Run 1 of the LHC: tracker properties

The tracking performance parameters of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) as part of the ATLAS inner detector are described in this paper for different data-taking conditions in proton-proton, proton-lead and lead-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The performance is studied using data collected during the first period of LHC operation (Run 1) and is compared with Monte Carlo simulations. The performance of the TRT, operating with two different gas mixtures (xenon-based and argon-based) and its dependence on the TRT occupancy is presented. Furthermore, these studies show that the tracking performance of the TRT is similar for the two gas mixtures and that a significant contribution to the particle momentum resolution is made by the TRT up to high particle densities.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Cherenkov and Transition Radiation as Low-Energy Background Sources in SuperCDMS Detectors

The Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) has historically been a prime candidate for dark matter due to its elegant compatibility with the Minimally Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). Recent dark matter experiments have ruled out much of the GeV-TeV mass range predicted by the MSSM, however, and the newest generation of direct detection experiments, such as SuperCDMS SNOLAB, have begunto explore sub-GeV dark matter. As experiments push towards lower masses, sensitivity to eV-scale electron recoil events has become increasingly important. A variety of unexplained excesses at energy deposits of 1-100 eV have been found inmany such low-mass experiments, across different detection techniques and at different excess rates. These low-energy events are not thought to be dark matter, and they must be understood and effectively removed to further improve detector energy resolution. This thesis will outline the simulation of one possible source of low-energy excess at SuperCDMS: optical photons produced from charges in uniform motion, specifically from Cherenkov radiation (CR), transition radiation (TR), and the intermediate hybrid transition-Cherenkov radiation (HR). In the latter case, the standard formulae for HR contain divergences at certain angles in transparent media, which are an artifact of their derivation and become problematic to simulate. To rsolve this, we present a novel approach to normalize the divergent HR peaks, which allows HR to transition smoothly between TR and CR in a numerical simulation. We also add TR and CR as a physics process to the SuperCDMS Monte Carlo simulation package SuperSim, based on the Geant4 simulation toolkit. To verify the physics of our addition, we show some test simulations in comparison to theoretical predictions of optical radiation intensity. We also use the simulation to make some preliminary predictions on the contribution of TR and CR to the low energy background, with the expectation that more thorough analyses will be conducted in the future.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Transition radiation light sources

Transition radiation from nanotubes, nanosheets, and nanoparticles and in particular, boron nitride nanomaterials, can be utilized for the generation of light. Wavelengths of light of interest for microchip lithography, including 13.5 nm (91.8 eV) and 6.7 nm (185 eV), can be generated at useful intensities, by transition radiation light sources. Light useful for monitoring relativistic charged particle beam characteristics such as spatial distribution and intensity can be generated.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Transition radiation light sources

Transition radiation from nanotubes, nanosheets, and nanoparticles and in particular, boron nitride nanomaterials, can be utilized for the generation of light. Wavelengths of light of interest for microchip lithography, including 13.5 nm (91.8 eV) and 6.7 nm (185 eV), can be generated at useful intensities, by transition radiation light sources. Light useful for monitoring relativistic charged particle beam characteristics such as spatial distribution and intensity can be generated.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A new Transition Radiation detector based on GEM technology

Transition Radiation Detectors (TRD) have the potential feature of separating particles by their gamma factor. Classical TRDs are based on Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers (MWPC) or straw tubes, using a Xenon based gas mixture to efficiently absorb transition radiation photons. These detectors operate well in experiments with relatively low particle multiplicity. The performance of MWPC-TRD in experiments with luminosity of order 10 34 cm 2 s –1 and above, is significantly deteriorated due to the high particle multiplicity and channel occupancy. Replacing MWPC or straw tubes with a high granularity Micro Pattern Gas Detectors (MPGD) like Gas Electron Multipliers (GEMs), could improve the performance of the TRD. In addition, GEM technology allows one to combine a tracker with TRD identification (GEM-TRD/T). This report presents a new TRD development based on GEM technology for the future Electron Ion Collider (EIC). The first beam test was performed at Jefferson Lab (Hall-D) using 3–6 GeV electrons. A GEM-TRD/T module has been exposed to electrons with and without a fiber radiator. First results of test beam measurements and comparison with Geant4 Monte Carlo are introduced here.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Energy levels, radiative transitions and Auger transitions of the core excited states for B-like ions

Highlights: • Core excited states from 1s2s{sup 2}2p{sup 2} and 1s2s2p{sup 3} for B-like systems are studied. • Energy levels, radiative transitions and Auger transitions are calculated. • Radiative and Auger rates are discussed with nuclear charge numbers. - Abstract: Energy levels, radiative transitions and Auger transitions of the core excited states from 1s2s{sup 2}2p{sup 2} and 1s2s2p{sup 3 2,4} L (L=S,P,D) configurations for B-like systems including P{sup 10+}, Ca{sup 15+}, Mn{sup 20+}, and Zn{sup 25+} ions are calculated using the saddle-point variation and saddle-point complex-rotation methods. The first-order perturbation theory is used to calculate relativistic and mass polarization corrections. Present energy levels, radiative transition rates and wavelengths, Auger rates and electron energies are compared with theoretical and experimental values in the literature. The total radiative rates and the total Auger rates for these resonances are also discussed with nuclear charge numbers.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

The ALICE Transition Radiation Detector: Construction, operation, and performance

The Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) was designed and built to enhance the capabilities of the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). While aimed at providing electron identification and triggering, the TRD also contributes significantly to the track reconstruction and calibration in the central barrel of ALICE. In this article, the design, construction, operation, and performance of this detector are discussed. A pion rejection factor of up to 410 is achieved at a momentum of 1 GeV/c in p-Pb collisions and the resolution at high transverse momentum improves by about 40% when including the TRD information in track reconstruction. The triggering capability is demonstrated both for jet, light nuclei, and electron selection.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Interspecies radiative transition in warm and superdense plasma mixtures

Superdense plasmas widely exist in planetary interiors and astrophysical objects such as brown-dwarf cores and white dwarfs. How atoms behave under such extreme-density conditions is not yet well understood, even in single-species plasmas. Here, we have applied thermal density functional theory to investigate the radiation spectra of superdense iron–zinc plasma mixtures at mass densities of ρ = 250 to 2000 g cm -3 and temperatures of kT = 50 to 100 eV, accessible by double-shell–target implosions. Our ab initio calculations reveal two extreme atomic-physics phenomena—firstly, an interspecies radiative transition; and, secondly, the breaking down of the dipole-selection rule for radiative transitions in isolated atoms. Our first-principles calculations predict that for superdense plasma mixtures, both interatomic radiative transitions and dipole-forbidden transitions can become comparable to the normal intra-atomic Kα-emission signal. These physics phenomena were not previously considered for extreme high-density plasma mixtures at super-high energy densities.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Observations of Coherent Optical Transition Radiation Interference Fringes Generated by Laser Plasma Accelerator Electron Beamlets

We report initial observations of coherent optical transition radiation interferometry (COTRI) patterns generated by microbunched electrons from laser-driven plasma accelerators (LPAs). These are revealed in the angular distribution patterns obtained by a CCD camera with the optics focused at infinity, or the far-field, viewing a Wartski two-foil interferometer. The beam divergences deduced by comparison to results from an analytical model are sub-mrad, and they are smaller than the ensemble vertical beam divergences measured at the downstream screen of the electron spectrometer. The transverse sizes of the beamlet images were obtained with focus at the object, or near field, and were in the few-micron regime as reported by LaBerge et al. [8]. The enhancements in intensity are significant relative to incoherent optical transition radiation (OTR) enabling multiple cameras to view each shot. We present two-foil interferometry effects coherently enhanced in both the 100-TW LPA at 215 MeV energy at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the PW LPA at 1.0-GeV energy at the University of Texas-Austin. A transverse emittance estimate is reported for a microbunched beamlet example generated within the plasma bubble.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Coherent Transition Radiation Generated from Transverse Electron Density Modulation

Coherent Transition radiation (CTR) of a given frequency is commonly generated with longitudinal electron bunch trains. In this paper, we present a study of CTR properties produced from simultaneous electron transverse and longitudinal density modulation. We demonstrate via numerical simulations a simple technique to generate THz-scale frequencies from mm-scale transversely separated electron beamlets formed into a ps-scale bunch train. The results and a potential experimental setup are discussed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Study of performance of the ATLAS transition radiation tracker in run 1 of the LHC: Tracking characteristics

The ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) contains more than 350000 large straw tubes and it is the outermost of the three subsystems of the ATLAS Inner Detector (ID). The TRT contributes substantially to the ATLAS ID resolution for the tracks of high-energy particles, providing excellent particle identification capabilities and electron-pion separation. Basic performance parameters of the TRT related to its tracking function are described in this paper. The data used in this study were collected during the first period of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) operation in 2012 with a proton collision energy of 8 TeV. The tracking performance of the TRT has been studied in the case of operating with a Xe-based gas mixture and as a function of the straw occupancy. Special attention was paid to investigation of tracking parameters inside hadronic jets. The experimental data and simulation are in reasonable agreement, even within the dense cores of the most energetic jets.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Diffracted transition radiation of an ultra-high-energy relativistic electron beam in a thin single-crystal wafer

We consider diffracted transition radiation (DTR) emitted by high-energy relativistic electrons crossing a thin single-crystal wafer in the Laue geometry. The expression describing the DTR angular density is derived for the case where the electron path length in the target is much smaller than the X-ray wave extinction length in the crystal and the kinematic nature of this expression is demonstrated. It is shown that the DTR angular density in a thin target is proportional to the target thickness.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Coherent Optical Transition Radiation Imaging for Laser-Driven Plasma Accelerator Electron-Beam Diagnostics

Application of coherent optical transition radiation (COTR) diagnostics to compact accelerators has been demonstrated for the laser-driven wake field accelerator (LWFA) case recently. It is proposed that such diagnostics for beam size, beam divergence, microbunching fraction, spectral content, and bunch length would be useful before and after any subsequent acceleration in crystals or nanostructures. In addition, there are indications that under some scenarios a microbunched beam could resonantly excite wake fields in nanostructures that might lead to an increased acceleration gradient.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Intracenter Radiative Transitions at Tantalum Impurity Centers in Cadmium Telluride

Luminescence spectra of Ta impurity centers in CdTe are studied for the first time. It is found that, as the 3d (Ta) electron system of centers is considered instead of the 3d (V) system, a substantial change in the characteristics of impurity-related emission is observed. Electron transitions are identified in accordance with the Tanabe–Sugano diagrams of crystal-field theory. It is established that radiative transitions occur within isolated Ta{sub Cd}{sup 3+} centers, between levels with different spins. Temperature broadening of the zero-phonon line of tantalum is induced by the interaction of d electrons of the center with TA phonons of the crystal lattice. However, in interpreting the data on the temperature shift of the line, it is essential to take into account the hybridization of local impurity states and band states. Temperature quenching of the luminescence signal occurs with activation energies of 60 and 160 meV. The radiative lifetime of centers in CdTe:Ta is 1.5 μs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Generation of Terawatt Attosecond Pulses from Relativistic Transition Radiation

When a femtosecond duration and hundreds of kiloampere peak current electron beam traverses the vacuum and high-density plasma interface, a new process, that we call here relativistic transition radiation (RTR), generates an intense ~ 100 as pulse containing ~ 1 terawatt power of coherent vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation accompanied by several smaller femtosecond duration satellite pulses. This pulse inherits the radial polarization of the incident beam field and has a ring intensity distribution. This RTR is emitted when the beam density is comparable to the plasma density and the spot size much larger than the plasma skin depth. Physically, it arises from the return current or backward relativistic motion of electrons starting just inside the plasma that Doppler up shifts the emitted photons. The number of RTR pulses is determined by the number of groups of plasma electrons that originate at different depths within the first plasma wake period and emit coherently before phase mixing.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗