Abstract
This paper describes the electronics used for the ATLAS monitored drift tube (MDT) chambers. These chambers are the main component of the precision tracking system in the ATLAS muon spectrometer. The MDT detector system consists of 1,150 chambers containing a total of 354,000 drift tubes. It is capable of measuring the sagitta of muon tracks to an accuracy of 60 μm, which corresponds to a momentum accuracy of about 10% at pT= 1 TeV. The design and performance of the MDT readout electronics as well as the electronics for controlling, monitoring and powering the detector will be discussed. These electronics have been extensively tested under simulated running conditions and have undergone radiation testing certifying them for more than 10 years of LHC operation. They are now installed on the ATLAS detector and are operating during cosmic ray commissioning runs.
Highlights
The monitored drift tube (MDT) chambers are the main component of the precision tracking system in the ATLAS muon spectrometer [1]
In an MDT tube each track creates a sequence of pulses, the duration of which corresponds to the time difference in drifting from Rmin and Rmax
A relatively simple approach with respect to fragment building is possible: the speed of the RocketIO links connecting MRODin and MRODout FPGAs is set equal to the speed of the MDT Readout Driver (MROD) output link (1.6 Gb/s net data rate), so that fragment building in the MRODout FPGA basically consists of generating the correct envelope data words and of routing the output streams of the MRODin FPGAs one after the other to the MROD output link
Summary
The monitored drift tube (MDT) chambers are the main component of the precision tracking system in the ATLAS muon spectrometer [1]. The front-end electronics have been designed to survive in a high radiation environment and have undergone testing certifying them for more than 10 years of LHC operation. In addition to reading out the MDT chambers, electronics are necessary to control the readout system, to monitor the chamber environment and running conditions, and to supply the necessary low and high voltage power. Electronics related to chamber alignment are not covered in this paper - see references [2] and [3] for the barrel and end-cap alignment systems respectively
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