RICH Detector Research Articles

Customisation of the Large Area Picosecond Photodetector for the Upgrade II of the LHCb RICH

The LHCb is one of the four large experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). LHCb physics program includes studies of CP violation and decays of heavy-flavour hadrons. The RICH (Ring Imaging Cherenkov) detectors play a key role in particle identification. There is currently an intense detector R&D programme towards the LHCb Upgrade II, planned for 2032. One of the main photon detectors candidate for the Upgrade II of the RICH, the Large Area Picosecond Photodetector (LAPPD), will be presented, together with first tests and latest developments.

TOP detector for particle identification at Belle II

The Time-Of-Propagation (TOP) counter is a ring-imaging Cherenkov detector designed to identify the charged hadrons in the barrel region of the Belle II detector. The Belle II experiment collected data delivered by the SuperKEKB accelerator from March 2019 to June 2022. After the first run period (Run1), a long shutdown (LS1) was dedicated to implement several accelerator and detector upgrades. The second collision period (Run2) was started in January 2024. The components of the TOP detector and the performance during the Run1 will be reported and the detector upgrade during LS1 and future upgrades will be described.

Recuperation systems for fluorinated gases at the CERN LHC Experiments

Particle detectors at the LHC experiments are very often characterised by large detector volumes and by the need of using very specific gases, some of which are greenhouse gases (GHGs). Given their high Global Warming Potential (GWP) and the increasingly stringent European regulations regarding the use and trade of these gases, CERN is today strongly committed to reduce GHGs emissions from particle detector operation. Different approaches have been adopted for reducing the GHG emissions. To achieve this objective, the CERN Gas Team has developed gas recuperation plants: i.e. systems designed to extract GHGs from the exhaust of gas recirculation systems allowing further re-use and, therefore, reducing drastically GHGs emissions without changing detectors operation conditions. They are industrial-scale systems, each of which relies on different principles for gas separation and purification. Considering the unique gas mixtures used in particle detectors, these recuperation systems have been specifically developed as no industrial apparatus currently exists to address these requirements. Recent developments are concerning plants for recuperation of CF4, C2H2F4 (also called R134a), SF6 and C4F10, which are used respectively for Cathode Strip Chambers, (CSCs) Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) and Ring-Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detectors. The separation of fluorinated gases is carried out mainly through membranes, absorbers, or distillation. Two state-of-the-art recuperation systems are briefly described in this paper.

Upgrade of the LHCb RICH detectors and characterization of the new opto-electronics chain

The LHCb detector has been upgraded to manage a five-fold increase in the instantaneous luminosity delivered to the experiment during LHC Run 3 and to readout data at the full bunch crossing rate of 40 MHz. The enhanced LHCb RICH detectors now feature Multianode Photomultiplier Tubes (MaPMTs), covering a total area of approximately 4 square meters, and brand-new frontend electronics to comply with the trigger-less readout architecture. The opto-electronics chain is capable of detecting single photons at repetition rates of up to 100 MHz/cm2 while maintaining an exceptionally low noise. The RICH upgrade is comprehensively outlined, including details about the characterization and studies on the photon detection system. The stability and uniformity achieved by optimizing the parameters of the opto-electronics chain enable the RICH system to function successfully and to provide excellent charged hadron identification in high occupancy conditions.

Fast and low power SiPM amplifier operating in a wide temperature range

The next generation of Ring Imaging CHerenkov detectors in high energy physics experiments may use SiPMs as photon sensing elements. This upgrade is necessary to achieve greater detector granularity and speed, however SiPMs need to be cooled down to cryogenic temperatures to detect single photons in high-radiation environments and avoid being overwhelmed by the presence of “dark signals”. It is therefore necessary to study and characterize SiPM models in dedicated campaigns, using a custom-built amplifying chain that can also operate in an extended temperature range, between 80 K and 300 K, for detector characterization purposes. The proposed amplifier configuration consists of two amplifying stages and achieves low jitter values (<10−20psRMS) thanks to the low electronic noise and the high amplifier bandwidth. The circuit achieves a signal bandwidth of 500MHz<BW<1GHz, a phase margin of approximately 45° and a power consumption of about 65−135mW. The amplifier prototype unit can be adjusted to cover the considered temperature range and still achieve low jitter values.

First results on the performance of the upgraded LHCb RICH detectors

With the start of LHC Run 3 the upgraded LHCb experiment, designed to run at an instantaneous luminosity five times larger with respect to previous running periods, is aiming to collect L=50fb−1 of pp collisions data by the end of Run 4. In addition, thanks to a trigger-less readout and a full software trigger, the selection efficiency for fully hadronic decay channels of heavy hadrons increases up to a factor two. The LHCb RICH detectors have been renewed to manage the increased detector occupancy, ensuring outstanding charged hadron discrimination in the more demanding Run 3 environment and at the maximum LHC interaction rate. This process is detailed, outlining the automated calibration procedures of the RICH system to achieve optimal signal efficiency and background rejection during the initial stages of the Run 3 data-taking. The early performance of the newly installed detectors is presented, including the determination of performance parameters such as the Cherenkov angle resolution. It is also reported that the particle identification capabilities are already approaching the design level and outperforming those of Run 1 and 2.

Performance of a coarsely pixelated LAPPD photosensor for the SoLID gas Cherenkov detectors

The SoLID spectrometer's gas Cherenkov counters require photosensors that operate in a high luminosity and high background environment. The reference design features arrays of 9 or 16 tiled multi-anode photomultipliers (MaPMTs), distributed across 32 sectors, to serve the light-gas and heavy-gas Cherenkov counters, respectively. To assess the viability of a pixelated INCOM Large Area Picosecond Photodetector (LAPPDTM) as an alternative photosensor to replace MaPMT arrays in either detector, we evaluated its performance under realistic SoLID running conditions in Hall C at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab). The results of this test confirmed that the coarse-pixelated (2.5 × 2.5 cm2 pixel size) LAPPD is capable of handling the total projected signal and background rates of the three pillar SoLID experiments. The tested photosensor detected Cherenkov signals with the capability of separating single-electron events from pair production events while rejecting background. Although the design was not aimed at ring-imaging Cherenkov detectors, Cherenkov disk images were captured in two different gas radiators. Through a direct comparison with a GEANT4 simulation, we confirmed the experimental performance of the LAPPD.

The FastRICH ASIC for the LHCb RICH enhancements

The Ring-Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detectors at LHCb have an excellent intrinsic time resolution due to the prompt Cherenkov radiation and focusing mirror optics. Novel RICH readout electronics, to be installed during the third Long Shutdown period (LS3) of the LHC, will introduce fast-timing information in the LHCb experiment. Central to the readout chain is a new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), called the FastRICH, with a unique set of features targeting operation in high-energy physics experiments and in particular the LHCb RICH detector.

Performance optimization for a scintillating glass electromagnetic calorimeter at the EIC

The successful realization of the EIC scientific program requires the design and construction of high-performance particle detectors. Recent developments in the field of scientific computing and increased availability of high performance computing resources have made it possible to perform optimization of multi-parameter designs, even when the latter require longer computational times (for example simulations of particle interactions with matter). Procedures involving machine-assisted techniques used to inform the design decision have seen a considerable growth in popularity among the EIC detector community. Having already been realized for tracking and RICH PID detectors, it has a potential application in calorimetry designs. A SciGlass barrel calorimeter originally designed for EIC Detector-1 has a semi-projective geometry that allows for non-trivial performance gains, but also poses special challenges in the way of effective exploration of the design space while satisfying the available space and the cell dimension constraints together with the full detector acceptance requirement. This talk will cover specific approaches taken to perform this detector design optimization.

The LHCb Upgrade I

The LHCb upgrade represents a major change of the experiment. The detectors have been almost completely renewed to allow running at an instantaneous luminosity five times larger than that of the previous running periods. Readout of all detectors into an all-software trigger is central to the new design, facilitating the reconstruction of events at the maximum LHC interaction rate, and their selection in real time. The experiment's tracking system has been completely upgraded with a new pixel vertex detector, a silicon tracker upstream of the dipole magnet and three scintillating fibre tracking stations downstream of the magnet. The whole photon detection system of the RICH detectors has been renewed and the readout electronics of the calorimeter and muon systems have been fully overhauled. The first stage of the all-software trigger is implemented on a GPU farm. The output of the trigger provides a combination of totally reconstructed physics objects, such as tracks and vertices, ready for final analysis, and of entire events which need further offline reprocessing. This scheme required a complete revision of the computing model and rewriting of the experiment's software.

Feature Selection Techniques for CR Isotope Identification with the AMS-02 Experiment in Space

Isotopic composition measurements of singly charged cosmic rays (CR) provide essential insights into CR transport in the Galaxy. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) can identify singly charged isotopes up to about 10 GeV/n. However, their identification presents challenges due to the small abundance of CR deuterons compared to the proton background. In particular, a high accuracy for the velocity measured by a ring-imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH) is needed to achieve a good isotopic mass separation over a wide range of energies. The velocity measurement with the RICH is particularly challenging for Z=1 isotopes due to the low number of photons produced in the Cherenkov rings. This faint signal is easily disrupted by noisy hits leading to a misreconstruction of the particles’ ring. Hence, an efficient background reduction process is needed to ensure the quality of the reconstructed Cherenkov rings and provide a correct measurement of the particles’ velocity. Machine learning methods, particularly boosted decision trees, are well suited for this task, but their performance relies on the choice of the features needed for their training phase. While physics-driven feature selection methods based on the knowledge of the detector are often used, machine learning algorithms for automated feature selection can provide a helpful alternative that optimises the classification method’s performance. We compare five algorithms for selecting the feature samples for RICH background reduction, achieving the best results with the Random Forest method. We also test its performance against the physics-driven selection method, obtaining better results.

The analog front end for FastRICH: an ASIC for the LHCb RICH detector upgrade

This work presents the analog circuitry of the FastRICH ASIC, a 16-channel ASIC, developed in a 65 nm CMOS technology specifically designed for the RICH detector at LHCb to readout detectors like Photomultiplier Tubes to be used at the LHC Run 4 and Silicon Photomultipliers candidates for Run 5. The front-end (FE) stage has an input impedance below 50 Ω and an input dynamic range from 5 μA to 5 mA with a power consumption of ∼5 mW/channel. The chip includes a Leading Edge Comparator (LED) and a Constant Fraction Discriminator (CFD) for time pick-off and a Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) for digitization.

Helium identification with LHCb

The identification of helium nuclei at LHCb is achieved using a method based on measurements of ionisation losses in the silicon sensors and timing measurements in the Outer Tracker drift tubes. The background from photon conversions is reduced using the RICH detectors and an isolation requirement. The method is developed using pp collision data at √(s) = 13 TeV recorded by the LHCb experiment in the years 2016 to 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.5 fb-1. A total of around 105 helium and antihelium candidates are identified with negligible background contamination. The helium identification efficiency is estimated to be approximately 50% with a corresponding background rejection rate of up to 𝒪(1012). These results demonstrate the feasibility of a rich programme of measurements of QCD and astrophysics interest involving light nuclei.

A readout system based on SiPM for the dRICH detector at the EIC

The ePIC experiment at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) aims to use silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) as the photodetector technology for the dual-radiator ring-imaging Cherenkov detector (dRICH). Despite their advantages for this low light application and insensitivity to high magnetic fields, SiPMs are sensitive to radiation and require rigorous testing to ensure that their single-photon counting capabilities and dark count rate are kept under control over the years of operation. The presented results show the successful use of a complete prototype readout chain based on the ALCOR chip for SiPM characterization measurements and assembled in an optical plane for test-beam measurements using the dRICH prototype.

Performance of modular ring imaging Cherenkov detector for particle identification

A compact modular ring imaging Cherenkov (mRICH) detector has been developed to provide K/π separation over a momentum coverage of 2 to 10 GeV/c, and an e/π separation of up to 2.5 GeV/c within the Electron-Ion Collider Generic R&D Consortium (i.e., eRD14 Collaboration). The mRICH detector consists of an aerogel block, a Fresnel lens, a flat-mirror set, and a photosensor plane. In September 2021, an mRICH beam-test was carried out at Jefferson Laboratory (JLab). In this paper, results from JLab beam test will be presented together with future plans for mRICH R&D activities.

The High Energy Light Isotope eXperiment program of direct cosmic-ray studies

HELIX is a new NASA-sponsored instrument aimed at measuring the spectra and composition of light cosmic-ray isotopes from hydrogen to neon nuclei, in particular the clock isotopes 10Be (radioactive, with 1.4 Myr lifetime) and 9Be (stable). The latter are unique markers of the production and Galactic propagation of secondary cosmic-ray nuclei, and are needed to resolve such important mysteries as the proportion of secondary positrons in the excess of antimatter observed by the AMS-02 experiment. By using a combination of a 1 T superconducting magnet spectrometer (with drift-chamber tracker) with a high-resolution time-of-flight detector system and ring-imaging Cherenkov detector, mass-resolved isotope measurements of light cosmic-ray nuclei will be possible up to 3 GeV/n in a first stratospheric balloon flight from Kiruna, Sweden to northern Canada, anticipated to take place in early summer 2024. An eventual longer Antarctic balloon flight of HELIX will yield measurements up to 10 GeV/n, sampling production from a larger volume of the Galaxy extending into the halo. We review the instrument design, testing, status and scientific prospects.

Novel silicon detectors in ALICE at the LHC: The ITS3 and ALICE 3 upgrades

The ALICE experiment is preparing for the ITS3 upgrade, which is set to take place during the LHC Long Shutdown 3. The aim of this upgrade is to replace the three innermost tracking layers with truly cylindrical wafer-scale Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS). By adopting this innovative technology, ALICE will further reduce the material budget and the distance from the interaction point, thus significantly improving its tracking and vertexing capabilities. The R&amp;D program for ITS3 includes several advancements, such as operability of bent MAPS, validation of the 65 nm CMOS technology, and employment of the stitching process to produce wafer-scale sensors. In addition to the ITS3 upgrade, ALICE is designing a completely new apparatus, ALICE 3, planned for LHC Runs 5 and 6. The detector consists of a large MAPS-based tracking system covering eight units of pseudorapidity, complemented by multiple systems for particle identification, including silicon time-of-flight layers, a ring-imaging Cherenkov detector, a muon identification system, and an electromagnetic calorimeter. The vertex detector is based on an evolution of the ITS3 concept aiming at a track pointing resolution of better than 10 μm for tranverse momenta above 200 MeV/c through the integration of the tracking layers in a retractable structure inside the beam pipe. In this proceeding the detector concept of these upgrades is described, together with their physics motivations and R&amp;D status and achievements.

What Machine Learning Can Do for Focusing Aerogel Detectors

Particle identification at the Super Charm-Tau factory experiment will be provided by a Focusing Aerogel Ring Imaging CHerenkov detector (FARICH). The specifics of detector location make proper cooling difficult, therefore a significant number of ambient background hits are captured. They must be mitigated to reduce the data flow and improve particle velocity resolution. In this work we present several approaches to filtering signal hits, inspired by machine learning techniques from computer vision.

The “green” use of fluorocarbons in Cherenkov detectors and silicon tracker cooling systems: challenges and opportunities in an unfolding era of alternatives

Saturated fluorocarbons (SFCs) of form CnF(2n+2) are chosen for their optical properties as Cherenkov radiators, with C4F10 and CF4 currently used at CERN in the COMPASS and LHCb ring imaging Cherenkov detectors. Their non-conductivity, non-flammability and radiation-resistance also make SFCs ideal coolants: C6F14 liquid cooling is used in all LHC experiments, while C3F8 is used for the evaporative cooling of TOTEM and the ATLAS silicon tracker. These fluids, however, have high global warming potentials (5000–10000*GWPCO2), and represented around 36% of CERN’s CO2-equivalent emissions in 2018. There is thus an impetus to reduce their use, losses in purification and wastage through leaks, through improved monitoring and closed circulation system design. Newer spur-oxygenated fluoro-ketones, for example from the 3 M NOVEC® range, with CnF2nO structures, can offer similar performance to SFCs with but with very low, or zero GWP. Although these fluids do not yet exist in large quantities over the full CnF2 “matrix” the radiation tolerance and thermal performance of NOVEC 649 (C6F12O) was sufficiently promising for it to be chosen as a C6F14 replacement for cooling silicon photomultipliers. Additionally, subject to optical testing, NOVEC 5110 (C5F10O) could (if blended with nitrogen) replace both C4F10 and CF4 in Cherenkov detectors. Lighter molecules (for example C2F4O, with similar thermodynamics to C2F6)—if and when available in industrial quantities—might allow lower temperature operation than evaporative CO2 in future silicon trackers operated at very high luminosity. Ultrasonic gas mixture analysis is very sensitive to concentration changes of a heavy vapour in a light carrier, and is used—in the only such fluorocarbon coolant leak monitoring system operating at LHC—for real-time monitoring of C3F8 coolant leaks from the ATLAS pixel and SCT silicon trackers into their nitrogen-flushed environmental volumes. A typical C3F8 sensitivity of better than 10−5 is achieved. Advanced new ultrasonic algorithms allow measurement of the concentrations of a pair of gases of particular interest on top of a varying known baseline of other gases. The technique is thus of considerable value in leak monitoring and could be used to blend fluoro-ketones with nitrogen or argon to reduce the GWP “load” of large volume atmospheric pressure gas Cherenkov radiators without the recourse to higher-pressure noble gas approaches. This paper outlines an approach to GWP reduction with fluoro-ketone fluids and the blending of heritage SFCs or fluoro-ketones with lighter gases using ultrasonic monitoring and control. Possible avenues for the use of fluoro-ketones in liquid phase and evaporative cooling of silicon trackers are discussed.

Status of the development of the RICH detector for CBM including a mRICH prototype in mCBM

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment is being built at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) next to GSI, Darmstadt, Germany. A RICH detector will provide clean and efficient electron identification in order to access di-electrons emitted from dense baryonic matter, one of the key measurements of CBM. The CBM RICH recently passed the threshold to construction with first mass production of part of the electronics. The readout electronics was developed together with the HADES experiment and is successfully operated there in the upgraded RICH detector which also makes use of approximately half of the H12700 MAPMTs of CBM. The readout electronics is also tested in a dedicated “mini-RICH” detector in the “mini-CBM” setup with prototypes of all subdetectors, however with an implementation of the full functionality of the future free-streaming readout. Besides finalizing the RICH readout, work is ongoing on full size prototypes of the RICH mirror mechanics and the photocamera including a full system test of the cooling concept. In this report, a brief update on the various developments and the status of the CBM RICH detector is given.