DHCAL with minimal absorber: measurements with positrons

B Freund,F Corriveau,Y Onel,B Bilki,C Neubüser,J Repond

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/928/1/012037

B Freund, F Corriveau + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/928/1/012037

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Abstract

In special tests, the active layers of the CALICE Digital Hadron Calorimeter prototype, the DHCAL, were exposed to low energy particle beams, without being interleaved by absorber plates. The thickness of each layer corresponded approximately to 0.29 radiation lengths or 0.034 nuclear interaction lengths, defined mostly by the copper and steel skins of the detector cassettes. This paper reports on measurements performed with this device in the Fermilab test beam with positrons in the energy range of 1 to 10 GeV. The measurements are compared to simulations based on GEANT4 and a standalone program to emulate the detailed response of the active elements.

Highlights

This paper reports on special tests performed in the Fermilab test beam using the detector cassettes of the Digital Hadron Calorimeter prototype, the DHCAL [1], without absorber material interleaved between the active layers
The data are compared to the results of the Monte Carlo simulation based on both the FTFP BERT and the FTFP BERT EMY physics lists
The response of the Min-DHCAL to positrons, its energy resolution and various electromagnetic shower shapes were measured in the energy range of 1 to 10 GeV

Summary

Introduction

This paper reports on special tests performed in the Fermilab test beam using the detector cassettes of the Digital Hadron Calorimeter prototype, the DHCAL [1], without absorber material interleaved between the active layers. This led to a unsatisfactory description of, among other measurements, the energy resolution, indicating a deficit in the generation of initial ionizations in the gas gap of the RPCs. A migration to the Option 3 or EMY [8] based electromagnetic physics list, which is appropriate for low energies, resulted in a significant improvement of the description of the experimental data, in particular, the energy resolution.

Results

Conclusion