Test-beam and laboratory characterisation of the TORCH prototype detector

Abstract

The TORCH time-of-flight (TOF) detector is being developed to provide particle identification up to a momentum of 10GeV/c over a flight distance of 10m. It has a DIRC-like construction with 10mm thick synthetic amorphous fused-silica plates as a Cherenkov radiator. Photons propagate by total internal reflection to the plate periphery where they are focused onto an array of customised position-sensitive micro-channel plate (MCP) detectors. The goal is to achieve a 15ps time-of-flight resolution per incident particle by combining arrival times from multiple photons. The MCPs have pixels of effective size 0.4mm×6.6mm2 in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, by incorporating a novel charge-sharing technique to improve the spatial resolution to better than the pitch of the readout anodes. Prototype photon detectors and readout electronics have been tested and calibrated in the laboratory. Preliminary results from testbeam measurements of a prototype TORCH detector are also presented.