Design and performance tests of the CDF time-of-flight system

Abstract

The CDF II detector contains a time-of-flight detector consisting of 216 scintillator bars of 279 cm length and 4×4 cm 2 cross-section located at a radius of 138 cm from the beam axis. The bars are installed on the inner surface of the CDF solenoid, which produces an axial field of 1.4 T. Nineteen-stage fine-mesh photomultiplier tubes are attached at both ends of the scintillator bars. Photostatistics limit the time-of-flight resolution, which is expected to be 100 ps. The primary physics motivation is K ± identification for improved neutral B meson flavor determination.