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At least 19 records

Recent progress in the development of transition radiation detectors

Transition-radiation detectors have been used in several recent cosmic-ray experiments for particle identification at energies E/mc-squared of at least about 1000. In order to optimize the design of such detectors and to use them for energy measurements over a broad energy range, it is necessary to study the details of the transition-radiation process. Experimental results are presented which test the theoretical predictions more precisely and at higher energies than in previous experiments. The dependence of the interference pattern in the frequency spectrum on the radiator dimensions is studied, and the total transition-radiation yield generated by electrons in various radiators is measured over a very wide energy range, from 5 to 300 GeV. The significance of the individual experimental parameters in the design of transition radiation detectors is reviewed, and the characteristics of transition-radiation detectors capable of measuring particle energies over the range E/mc-squared from about 300 to 100,000 are discussed.

Cherry, M. L.↗

Design of a transition radiation detector for cosmic rays

Transition radiation detectors consisting of sandwiches of plastic foam radiators and multiwire proportional chambers can be used to identify cosmic ray particles with energies gamma ? E/mc-squared is greater than 10 to the 3rd and to measure their energy in the region gamma is roughly equal to 10 to the 3rd

Hartmann, G.↗

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 ↗

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↗

A new transition radiation detector for cosmic ray nuclei

Test measurements on materials for transition radiation detectors at a low Lorentz factor are reported. The materials will be based on board Spacelab-2 for determining the composition and energy spectra of nuclear cosmic rays in the 1 TeV/nucleon range. The transition radiation detectors consist of a sandwich of radiator-photon detector combinations. The radiators emit X-rays and are composed of polyolefin fibers used with Xe filled multiwired proportional chamber (MWPC) detectors capable of detecting particle Lorentz factors of several hundred. The sizing of the detectors is outlined, noting the requirement of a thickness which provides a maximum ratio of transition radiation to total signal in the chambers. The fiber radiator-MWPC responses were tested at Fermilab and in an electron cyclotron. An increase in transition radiation detection was found as a square power law of Z, and the use of six radiator-MWPC on board the Spacelab-2 is outlined.

Lheureux, J.↗

High-energy cosmic-ray electrons - A new measurement using transition-radiation detectors

A new detector for cosmic-ray electrons, consisting of a combination of a transition-radiation detector and a shower detector, has been constructed, calibrated at accelerator beams, and exposed in a balloon flight under 5 g/sq cm of atmosphere. The design of this instrument and the methods of data analysis are described. Preliminary results in the energy range 9-300 GeV are presented. The energy spectrum of electrons is found to be significantly steeper than that of protons, consistent with a long escape lifetime of cosmic rays in the galaxy.

Hartmann, G.↗

Recent progress in the transition radiation detector techniques

A list of some of the major experimental achievements involving charged particles in the relativistic region are presented. With the emphasis mainly directed to the X-ray region, certain modes of application of the transition radiation for the identification and separation of relativistic charged particles are discussed. Some recent developments in detection techniques and improvements in detector performances are presented. Experiments were also carried out to detect the dynamic radiation, but no evidence of such an effect was observed.

Yuan, L. C. L.↗

Electron/hadron separation with the TRD based on GaAs pixel detectors

Transition Radiation Detectors (TRDs) are widely used for particle identification in both high-energy physics and astroparticle physics. They are typically equipped with gaseous detectors. The main limitation of these types of detectors is that TR photons and ionization losses cannot be decoupled, which significantly reduces the particle separation power. Recent advancements in the development of pixel detectors based on GaAs sensors offer a unique opportunity to effectively detect TR photons and separate them from ionization losses. Such detectors represent novel devices that combine precise tracking capabilities with particle identification (PID) properties. The present work is dedicated to an experimental study of particle identification properties of the TRD prototype based on 500 μ m-thick GaAs sensor bonded to a Timepix3 chip. Studies were performed at the CERN SPS and it was shown that at a particle momentum of 20 GeV/c, the probability of misidentifying a hadron as an electron is below 10 −2 for an electron detection efficiency of 98%–99%, and it is 1 . 6⋅10 −4 for electron detection efficiency of 90%. This performance surpasses the electron/hadron rejection power of all known TRDs by an order of magnitude for the same detector length.

GaAs detectors↗

A new measurement of the cosmic ray electron spectrum from 10 GeV to 300 GeV

The spectrum of cosmic-ray electrons has been measured with an instrument that combines a transition-radiation detector with a shower detector. The transition-radiation detector provides unique identification of individual electrons and good discrimination against protons. At the same time, it allows the construction of a large-area instrument (0.48 sq m ? ster) and consequently makes possible a measurement of improved statistical accuracy. The instrument has been calibrated with electron beams of 5-300 GeV at Fermilab, thus eliminating energy-dependent biases. A first balloon flight yielded 30 hours of data at an altitude of 5 g/sq cm. The design of the instrument is described, along with the accelerator calibrations and the analysis of the balloon flight data. The spectrum of electrons is found to be significantly steeper than that of protons over the whole energy range.

Hartmann, G.↗

Potentials for J/{psi} from b decays measurement in the ALICE experiment at LHC

The ALICE potentials in proton-proton collisions for the measurement of the fraction of J/{psi} produced at central rapidity (|y|<0.9) in beauty hadrons semi-inclusive decays, namely B{yields}J/{psi}X, is discussed.This measurement relies on the combined use of the Time Projection Chamber (TPC), for tracking and particle identification via dE/dx measurement; the Inner Tracking System (ITS) for tracking and detection of displaced vertices; the Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) for particle identification.The description of the analysis method developed and the discussion of the estimate for a total J/{psi} statistics corresponding to one year of ALICE data taking in p-p collisions at {radical}(s) = 7 TeV is provided in the article.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

PID techniques: Alternatives to RICH Methods

In this review article we discuss the recent progress in PID techniques other than the RICH methods. In particular we mention the recent progress in the Transition Radiation Detector (TRD), dE/dx cluster counting, and Time Of Flight (TOF) techniques. The TRD technique is mature and has been tried in many hadron colliders. It needs space though, about 20cm of detector radial space for every factor of 10 in the {pi}/e rejection power, and this tends to make such detectors large. Although the cluster counting technique is an old idea, it was never tried in a real physics experiment. Recently, there are efforts to revive it for the SuperB experiment using He-based gases and waveform digitizing electronics. A factor of almost 2 improvement, compared to the classical dE/dx performance, is possible in principle. However, the complexity of the data analysis will be substantial. The TOF technique is well established, but introduction of new fast MCP-PMT and G-APD detectors creates new possibilities. It seems that resolutions below 20-30ps may be possible at some point in the future with relatively small systems, and perhaps this could be pushed down to 10-15ps with very small systems, assuming that one can solve many systematic issues. However, the cost, rate limitation, aging and cross-talk in multi-anode devices at high BW are problems. There are several groups working on these issues, so progress is likely. Table 6 summarizes the author's opinion of pros and cons of various detectors presented in this paper based on their operational capabilities. We refer the reader to Ref.40 for discussion of other more general limits from the PID point of view.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The ACCESS Mission: ISS Accommodation Study

ACCESS (Advanced Cosmic-ray Composition Experiment for Space Station) is a new mission concept payload for the International Space Station (ISS) which has undergone a preliminary accommodation study. ACCESS science goals include new measurements of the rare ultra-high energy and ultra-heavy components of the cosmic radiation above the Earth's atmosphere. The critical resource made available by the ISS is collecting power; up to 10,000 square meters-sr-days, for a four-year stay on-orbit, allows ACCESS to go beyond balloon-borne detectors. The instrument, consisting of a charge module, a transition radiation detector, and a calorimeter, measures nuclei throughout the periodic table. The study demonstrates that the ISS as a stable science platform at the threshold of space, can make improved cosmic-ray investigations possible in the next century.

Wefel, John P.↗

Transition-radiation-Compton-scattering detector for very relativistic nuclei

The paper presents the design and predicted performance of a large acceptance (2 sq m sr) transition-radiation-Compton-scattering detector system which can be used to measure energy spectra up to several thousand Gev/nucleon for nuclei with Z between 6 and 28, as well as up to 40,000 GeV/nucleon for He. The following circumstances made such a detector system practicable: (1) transition radiation output is proportional to the square of particle charge; (2) output varies at least as rapidly as the square of Lorentz factor over the range from several hundred to several thousand.

Osborne, W. Z.↗

Radiation of charged particle bunches in corrugated waveguides with small period

Bunch radiation in periodical waveguides was mainly analyzed for situations when wavelengths are comparable to the structure period (Smith-Purcell emission). However, it is also interesting to study long wave radiation with wavelengths which are much greater than the structure period. In this paper, the electromagnetic field is analyzed using the method of equivalent boundary conditions. According to this approach, the exact boundary conditions on the complex periodic surface are replaced with certain equivalent conditions which must be fulfilled on the smooth surface. We consider a vacuum circular waveguide with a corrugated conductive wall (corrugation has rectangular form). The charge moves along the waveguide axis. The period and the depth of corrugation are much less than the waveguide radius and wavelengths under consideration. Expressions for the full field components and the wave field components are obtained. It is established that radiation consists of the only one TM waveguide mode which is excited if the charge velocity is more than certain limit value. Dependencies of the frequency and amplitude of the mode on the charge velocity and parameters of corrugation are analyzed. It is demonstrated that typical amplitude of waveguide mode from the ultra relativistic bunch has the same order as one in the ordinary regular waveguides with dielectric filling. In order to verify the method applied in this work we have simulated the electromagnetic field using the CST Particle Studio. For this purpose, we have considered the charged particle bunch with negligible thickness and Gaussian longitudinal distribution. It has been shown that the coincidence between theoretical and simulated results is good. This fact confirms that the theory based on the equivalent boundary conditions adequately describe the radiation process in the situation under consideration. The obtained results can be useful for development of methods of the electromagnetic radiation generation and technique of the wakefield acceleration of charged particles.

Cherenkov and transition radiation↗

The efficient identification of relativistic particles by transition radiation

A system of transition radiation detectors has been constructed and exposed to beams of electrons and pions in the energy range of 3 to 15 GeV at SLAC. Transition radiation was generated in a variety of stacks of mylar foils (radiators), and its intensity was detected with 7 multiwire proportional chambers. The raw data demonstrate a good separation between electron and pion induced signals. A more detailed analysis shows that a very efficient identification of individual particles is possible. Typically, a detection efficiency for electrons above 90%, combined with a pion-electron discrimination ratio of .001, has been achieved. Some conclusions with respect to the design of a practical detector for relativistic particles are drawn.

Cherry, M. L.↗

The Cosmic Ray Nuclei Experiment on the Spacelab-II mission

The Cosmic Ray Nuclei Experiment flown on the Spacelab-II mission was designed to measure the elemental composition of individual cosmic ray nuclei (Li to Ni) from 40 Gev/amu to several TeV/amu. The detector utilizes plastic scintillation counters for charge measurement, and gas Cerenkov and transition radiation detectors for energy measurements. The data analysis is in progress and results on the energy spectra are expected in the near future.

Grunsfeld, John Mace↗