Beam Background Research Articles

Room temperature dual-mode internal quantum deficiency measurement with propagated uncertainty to 0.03% (k = 2)

Abstract We present improvements in dual-mode calibration of predictable quantum efficient detectors and demonstrate the importance of calculating absolute uncertainties instead of relative uncertainties. We have implemented a new uncertainty component for the thermal fluctuations in the temperature signal which results in a propagated Type A uncertainty, matching the observed standard deviation. A new thermal drift correction method exploiting a monitor thermistor on the heat sink is relaxing the need for thermal stabilisation of the experimental set-up. With beam position uncertainty ±0.25 mm and background electrical power varying from 10 μW to 900 μW, the measured internal quantum deficiency (IQD) is in average 0.00% ± 0.03% (k = 2). The IQD exhibits clear systematic effects of beam position and background power, showing the need for improved design of dual-mode modules to further improve the uncertainty.

Collimator challenges at SuperKEKB and their countermeasures using nonlinear collimator

In SuperKEKB, movable collimators reduce the beam background noise in the Belle II particle detector and protect crucial machine components, such as final focusing superconducting quadrupole magnets (QCS), from abnormal beam losses. The challenges related to the collimator, which were not properly considered at the time of SuperKEKB design, have surfaced through experience with its operation. In this paper, we report the collimator operation strategy in SuperKEKB. In addition, a significant challenge of beam collimation due to the future increase in the beam background is highlighted. We also discuss another issue caused by unexpected and sudden beam losses in the machine that damage collimators, leading to weaker beam collimation performance and an increase in transverse impedance. Furthermore, we introduce a novel collimation approach called the nonlinear collimator (NLC) to address these challenges. We detail the concept of NLC and evaluate their effectiveness by assessing the collimator impedance, beam background reduction, and impact on the dynamic aperture. The possibility of using NLCs as absorber collimators to counteract events that damage the collimator is also shown to be helpful. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Operational experience and performance of the Belle II silicon vertex detector after the first SuperKEKB long shutdown

The Belle II experiment searches for beyond-the-standard-model physics using the Belle II detector and SuperKEKB collider. The silicon vertex detector (SVD) is crucial for particle tracking. After the 1.5-year shutdown from June 2022, Run 2 began in January 2024; Run 2 operation shows stable noise levels, high signal-to-noise ratios, and hit efficiency over 99%. To manage higher beam background from increased luminosity, new techniques such as hit-time selection and cluster grouping are being developed. These methods increase the acceptable level of occupancy by distinguishing hits from triggered collisions and other sources.

Beam background with beam–beam effect at BEPCII collider

Beam background with beam–beam effect at BEPCII collider

Beam-induced backgrounds measured in the ATLAS detector during local gas injection into the LHC beam vacuum

Inelastic beam-gas collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), within a few hundred metres of the ATLAS experiment, are known to give the dominant contribution to beam backgrounds. These are monitored by ATLAS with a dedicated Beam Conditions Monitor (BCM) and with the rate of fake jets in the calorimeters. These two methods are complementary since the BCM probes backgrounds just around the beam pipe while fake jets are observed at radii of up to several metres. In order to quantify the correlation between the residual gas density in the LHC beam vacuum and the experimental backgrounds recorded by ATLAS, several dedicated tests were performed during LHC Run 2. Local pressure bumps, with a gas density several orders of magnitude higher than during normal operation, were introduced at different locations. The changes of beam-related backgrounds, seen in ATLAS, are correlated with the local pressure variation. In addition the rates of beam-gas events are estimated from the pressure measurements and pressure bump profiles obtained from calculations. Using these rates, the efficiency of the ATLAS beam background monitors to detect beam-gas events is derived as a function of distance from the interaction point. These efficiencies and characteristic distributions of fake jets from the beam backgrounds are found to be in good agreement with results of beam-gas simulations performed with the Fluka Monte Carlo programme.

Field Quality Improvement of Septum Magnets for SuperKEKB Injection System

The SuperKEKB accelerator is a electron-positron collider consisting of the 7 GeV electron ring (high energy ring or HER) and the 4 GeV positron ring (low energy ring or LER). The commissioning of the SuperKEKB accelerator is underway, aiming to supply a great number of interaction events of electrons and positrons to the Belle II detector which is used for discovering the new physics beyond the standard model. The important milestone is to obtain integrated luminosity of 15 ab–1 in the next decade, so that the luminosity should exceed 2 × 1035 cm–2s–1 in several years. To achieve the goal, both rings have to be filled with high current beam of a few amperes, where the high injection efficiency is vitally important because lifetime is expected to be very short. One of the key components of the injection system is the septum magnet. It has been found that a transverse fringe field near the septum plate has sizable multipole components. A tracking simulation shows such fringe fields generate a vertical non-Gaussian tail, which could cause a beam background as well as a bad injection efficiency. Though quadrupole component in the multipoles could be, in principle, cancelled by adjusting the quadrupole magnets in the upstream of the beam line, it turned out to be difficult in actual operation. Even the quadrupole component was perfectly cancelled, components higher than quadrupole would be still harmful, since it generates a beam halo in the ring after injection, which increases the beam backgrounds to the Belle II detector. This paper describes about improvement of the field quality of the septum magnet.

Development of a hybrid collimator bonding tantalum and carbon-fiber-composite for SuperKEKB

Collimators are required to reduce beam-induced backgrounds in the experiments in the SuperKEKB. Sudden beam losses that are not fully understood cause frequent beam impacts on collimators. SuperKEKB was operated with several collimator types and suffered from damage induced by sudden beam losses and from blow-up of the vertical beam size due to the collimator impedance. To address these issues, this study developed a new type of “hybrid collimator” for improved performance.Collimator damage events increase beam background (BG) noise. To address this limitation, we developed a hybrid collimator by bonding tantalum with a carbon-fiber-composite to form the collimator head that is less likely to have an adverse effect on the BG when the beam hits it.This hybrid collimator exhibited a low impedance and high durability. Particle-tracking simulations, and beam irradiation simulations were conducted, and subsequently, the hybrid collimator was installed in the SuperKEKB main ring. The designed hybrid collimator reduced the beam background noise and facilitated a low impedance and continuous stable operation.

Beam Transmission (BTR) Software for Efficient Neutral Beam Injector Design and Tokamak Operation

BTR code (originally—“Beam Transmission and Re-ionization”, 1995) is used for Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) design; it is also applied to the injector system of ITER. In 2008, the BTR model was extended to include the beam interaction with plasmas and direct beam losses in tokamak. For many years, BTR has been widely used for various NBI designs for efficient heating and current drive in nuclear fusion devices for plasma scenario control and diagnostics. BTR analysis is especially important for ‘beam-driven’ fusion devices, such as fusion neutron source (FNS) tokamaks, since their operation depends on a high NBI input in non-inductive current drive and fusion yield. BTR calculates detailed power deposition maps and particle losses with an account of ionized beam fractions and background electromagnetic fields; these results are used for the overall NBI performance analysis. BTR code is open for public usage; it is fully interactive and supplied with an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). The input configuration is flexibly adapted to any specific NBI geometry. High running speed and full control over the running options allow the user to perform multiple parametric runs on the fly. The paper describes the detailed physics of BTR, numerical methods, graphical user interface, and examples of BTR application. The code is still in evolution; basic support is available to all BTR users.

Studies on RPC detectors operated with environmentally friendly gas mixtures in LHC-like conditions

Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) are gasesous detectors employed at CERN LHC experiments thanks to their trigger performance, timing capabilities and contained production costs. High Pressure Laminate RPCs are operated with a three-component gas mixture, made of 90–95% of C_2H_2F_4, around 5% of i-C_4H_{10} and 0.3% of SF_6. Due to the presence of leaks at detector level and to the greenhouse characteristics of C_2H_2F_4 and SF_6, RPCs in ATLAS and CMS were accounting for about 87% of CO_2 equivalent emissions during LHC Run 2. To address this, several alternative gases were studied, including R-1234ze as a possible substitute for R-134a. Furthermore, the addition of some amount of CO_2 into the RPCs gas mixture was explored as a possible short-to-medium term solution to lower the total greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the usage of C_2H_2F_4. A dedicated data taking campaign was performed at the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN, where RPCs detectors performance were studied with muon beam and gamma background. The detectors were operated with the addition of 30% and 40% and 50% of CO_2 to the standard gas mixture, together with an increased fraction of SF_6. Two different amounts of i-C4H10 were also evaluated to assess compatibility with the CMS and ATLAS requirements. Results from these beam tests with the above-mentioned gas mixtures are reported in this work.

Reconstruction of interactions in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector with Pandora

The Pandora Software Development Kit and algorithm libraries provide pattern-recognition logic essential to the reconstruction of particle interactions in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. Pandora is the primary event reconstruction software used at ProtoDUNE-SP, a prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment far detector. ProtoDUNE-SP, located at CERN, is exposed to a charged-particle test beam. This paper gives an overview of the Pandora reconstruction algorithms and how they have been tailored for use at ProtoDUNE-SP. In complex events with numerous cosmic-ray and beam background particles, the simulated reconstruction and identification efficiency for triggered test-beam particles is above 80% for the majority of particle type and beam momentum combinations. Specifically, simulated 1 GeV/c charged pions and protons are correctly reconstructed and identified with efficiencies of 86.1pm 0.6% and 84.1pm 0.6%, respectively. The efficiencies measured for test-beam data are shown to be within 5% of those predicted by the simulation.

Coherence and coherence vortex embedded in partially coherent Gaussian beam background during propagation

This work presents theoretical analysis on coherence vortex of partially coherent vortex beam (PCVB) during propagation. Complex degree of coherence is analyzed to explore the coherence singularity embedded in PCVB in detail. It is shown that observation of coherence singularity is related to position of reference point, and coherence singularities appear in pairs while the reference point is located far from the center. Detailed investigation reveals that it is easy to distinguish coherence singularity for the case of near field and for the case of original PCVB with high coherence.

Beam background simulation and experiment at BEPCII

A high-level beam background is a crucial challenge to future upgrades to the BEPCII collider. We report on the first separate measurement of main beam background components at BEPCII. The separation measurement enables the beam background extrapolation towards the beam parameters assumed for the upgraded BEPCII. The measured rates of each background component are also compared with a brand-new simulation based on SAD and Geant4. The discrepancy between experiment and simulation remains 1∼2 magnitudes after calibration with beam lifetime, which should be further investigated.

A neural network for beam background decomposition in Belle II at SuperKEKB

We describe a neural network for predicting the background hit rate in the Belle II detector produced by the SuperKEKB electron–positron collider. The neural network, BGNet, learns to predict the individual contributions of different physical background sources, such as beam-gas scattering or continuous top-up injections into the collider, to Belle II sub-detector rates. The samples for learning are archived 1Hz time series of diagnostic variables from the SuperKEKB collider subsystems and measured hit rates of Belle II used as regression targets. We test the learned model by predicting detector hit rates on archived data from different run periods not used during training. We show that a feature attribution method can help interpret the source of changes in the background level over time.

Studies on RPC detectors operated with environmentally friendly gas mixtures in LHC-like conditions

Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) are gaseous detectors employed at CERN LHC experiments thanks to their trigger performance, timing capabilities and contained production costs. High Pressure Laminate RPCs are operated with a three-component gas mixture, made of 90%–95% of C2H2F4, around 5% of i-C4H10 and 0.3% of SF6. Due to the presence of leaks at detector level and to the greenhouse characteristics of C2H2F4 and SF6, RPCs in ATLAS and CMS were accounting for about 87% of CO2 equivalent emissions during LHC Run 2. The addition of some amount of CO2 into the RPCs gas mixture was explored as a possible short-to-medium term solution to lower the total greenhouse gases emissions and reduce the usage of C2H2F4. A dedicated data taking campaign was performed at the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN, where RPCs detectors performance were studied with muon beam and gamma background. The detectors were operated with the addition of 30% and 40% of CO2 to the standard gas mixture, together with an increased fraction of SF6. In addition, the performance with two different amount of i-C4H10 were evaluated in order to assess the compatibility of the gas mixture with the CMS and ATLAS requirements. Results on the muon beam performance of RPCs operated with the aforementioned gas mixtures are reported in this work.

Performance studies of RPC detectors operated with C2H2F4 and CO2 gas mixtures

Resistive Plate Chambers detectors are largely employed at the CERN LHC experiments thanks to their excellent trigger performances and contained costs. They are operated with a gas mixture made of 90%–95% of C2H2F4, that provides a high number of ion–electron pairs, about 5% of i-C4H10, that ensures the suppression of photon-feedback effects, and 0.3% of SF6, used as an electron quencher to further operate the detector in streamer-free mode. C2H2F4is known to be a Greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential (GWP) of 1430. CERN has identified several strategies to reduce the consumption of greenhouse gas emissions from particle detectors at LHC experiments. One research line is focused on the study of alternatives to C2H2F4. In this context, a conservative approach for the next years of LHC operation could be to focus on reducing the GWP of the RPC gas mixture by only adding CO2 and not using new gases, whose effects on detector long-term operation have to be studied. The RPC performance with standard gas mixture with the addition of 30%–50% of CO2 (and SF6 concentration between 0.3 and 0.9%) were studied both in laboratory set-up and at the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility in presence of muon beam and gamma background radiation. Encouraging results were obtained showing that the addition of CO2 to the standard gas mixture can represent a mid-term solution to reduce emissions and lower operational costs by keeping stable detector performance and safe long-term operation.

Accurate analyses of key petrogenetic minor and trace elements in olivine by electron microprobe

Abundances of minor and trace elements in olivine are increasingly used as petrogenetic indicators for mantle source lithologies, mantle metasomatism history, mantle potential temperatures, and magmatic differentiation. As it is common for olivine to be complexly zoned on a fine-scale, high precision analytical methods for EPMA (electron microprobe microanalyzer, or Electron Microprobe) trace element analysis under high spatial resolution have been developed. However, previous studies have focused more on analytical precision with fewer efforts in examining the accuracy of the data. In this study, we used the Cameca SXFive field emission (FE) EPMA to fully evaluate the effects of beam settings, background offsets and background regression models, and primary calibration standards on the data accuracy of 10 key petrogenetic elements (Na, Al, P, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, and Zn) using MongOlSh11–2 olivine as a reference material. Our results indicate that high voltage, high beam current and long counting time not only improve data precision, but also improve data accuracy, especially on elements with low P/B (peak/background) ratios such as Zn and Cr. Importantly, careful background offsets and background regression models need to be obtained via high resolution WDS relative scans or step scans on each target element. Special care needs to be paid to Co element analysis to avoid or correct for peak interference of Fe Kβ. Among 10 minor and trace elements, exponential background regression models need to be applied to Al, Mn, and Ti elements, whereas other elements require linear background regression. Furthermore, to avoid Al and Zn surface contamination due to alumina polishing or brass presence, ultrasonic cleaning between each intermediate polishing steps and plasma cleaning immediately prior to EPMA experiments is highly recommended. Micro-inclusions such as chromite and spinel in olivine or adjacent Ca-rich phases need to be avoided to minimize primary or secondary fluorescence-related contamination on Al, Cr, or Ca. As a volatile element, Na element needs to be analyzed first with appropriate counting time to minimize the Na loss under high beam conditions. It needs mentioning that major elements (Mg, Fe, and Si) are best analyzed using MongOlSh11–2 or San Carlos olivine as primary standards for calibrations, which can yield more accurate data for both major elements and trace elements because of the improved matrix-corrections. Using our recommended analytical protocols, we have successfully discriminated “depleted” mantle olivine cores from an EMORB in northern East Pacific Rise (EPR) via Ca, Ti, Ni, Co, and Mn abundances. Our olivine data from Siqueiros Transform and the nearby 8°20′ N seamounts also help reveal a metasomatized peridotite mantle beneath the northern EPR. Overall, the protocols proposed in this study can serve as a guide for accurate EPMA olivine trace element analyses, which potentially contributes to the efforts of fostering a comparable olivine database worldwide.

The PADME beam line Monte Carlo simulation

The PADME experiment at the DAΦNE Beam-Test Facility (BTF) of the INFN Laboratory of Frascati is designed to search for invisible decays of dark sector particles produced in electron-positron annihilation events with a positron beam and a thin fixed target, by measuring the missing mass of single-photon final states. The presence of backgrounds originating from beam halo particles can significantly reduce the sensitivity of the experiment. To thoroughly understand the origin of the beam background contribution, a detailed Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation has been developed, containing a full description of the detector together with the beam line and its optical elements. This simulation allows the full interactions of each particle to be described, both during beam line transport and during detection, a possibility which represents an innovative way to obtain reliable background predictions.

Doublet splitting of fusion alpha particle driven ion cyclotron emission

Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) originating from confined populations of fast ions in toroidal fusion plasmas is an important non-invasive, passive diagnostic for current and next-generation devices. The ability to model ICE signals accurately is an essential step towards inferring the characteristics of confined energetic alpha particles or fast neutral beam ions and background plasma. In this paper, the linear growth rates of the magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability, which is the leading explanation for ICE, are calculated in high-resolution 2D space for parameters corresponding to JET Pulse No. 26148. These calculations further highlight the origin of doublet splitting of the cyclotron harmonics and the perceived need to invoke nonlinear interactions with 1D3V particle-in-cell studies to account for lower harmonics with substantial amplitudes. The inclusion of signals of ICE from a well-resolved range of propagation angles can also account for these effects.

The silicon vertex detector of the Belle II experiment

In 2019 the Belle II experiment started data taking at the asymmetric SuperKEKB collider (KEK, Japan) operating at the Y(4S) resonance. Belle II will search for new physics beyond the standard model by collecting an integrated luminosity of 50 ab−1. The silicon vertex detector (SVD), consisting of four layers of double-sided silicon strip sensors, is one of the two vertex sub-detectors. The SVD extrapolates the tracks to the inner pixel detector (PXD) with enough precision to correctly identify hits in the PXD belonging to the track. In addition the SVD has standalone tracking capability and utilizes ionization to enhance particle identification in the low momentum region. The SVD is operating reliably and with high efficiency, despite exposure to the harsh beam background of the highest peak-luminosity collider ever built. High signal-to-noise ratio and hit efficiency have been measured, as well as the spatial resolution; all these quantities show excellent stability over time. Data-simulation agreement on cluster properties has recently been improved through a careful tuning of the simulation. The precise hit-time resolution can be exploited to reject out-of-time hits induced by beam background, which will make the SVD more robust against higher levels of background. During the first three years of running, radiation damage effects on strip noise, sensor currents and depletion voltage have been observed, as well as some coupling capacitor failure due to intense radiation bursts. None of these effects cause significant degradation in the detector performance.

Comparison of supervised and unsupervised anomaly detection in Belle II pixel detector data

Machine learning has become a popular instrument for the search of undiscovered particles and mechanisms at particle collider experiments. It enables the investigation of large datasets and is therefore suitable to operate directly on minimally-processed data coming from the detector instead of reconstructed objects. Here, we study patterns of raw pixel hits recorded by the Belle II pixel detector, that is operational since 2019 and presently features 4 M pixels and trigger rates up to 5 kHz. In particular, we focus on unsupervised techniques that operate without the need for a theoretical model. These model-agnostic approaches allow for an unbiased exploration of data while filtering out anomalous detector signatures that could hint at new physics scenarios. We present the identification of hypothetical magnetic monopoles against Belle II beam background using self-organizing kohonen maps and autoencoders. These two unsupervised algorithms are compared to a Multilayer Perceptron and a superior signal efficiency of the Autoencoder is found at high background-rejection levels. Our results strengthen the case for using unsupervised machine learning techniques to complement traditional search strategies at particle colliders and pave the way to potential online applications of the algorithms in the near future.