J. Kokkonen

Performance of long modules of silicon microstrip detectors

This note describes the performance of modules assembled with up to 12 silicon microstrip detectors. These modules were built for the instrumented Silicon Target (STAR) that has been installed in the NOMAD spectrometer. Laboratory and test beam results are compared with model predictions. For a module of nine detectors, test beam results indicate a signal-to-noise ratio of 19, a hit finding efficiency of 99.8% and a spatial resolution of 6.0 μm. Laboratory measurements indicate that modules of twelve detectors exhibit a signal-to-noise ratio of the order of 16.

A B4C-SILICON TARGET FOR THE DETECTION OF NEUTRINO INTERACTIONS

This note describes the construction of a target for neutrino interactions composed of passive boron carbide plates interleaved with silicon microstrip detectors. The target contains four layers of passive material with a total mass of 45 kg and 600 single-sided silicon microstrip detectors with a total surface of 1.14 m2 distributed over five layers. It is installed in the NOMAD spectrometer at the CERN SPS neutrino beam. During the 1997 run about 8000νμ charged current interactions were estimated to have occurred in the target. For these events it will be possible to perform a precise measurement of both vertex and kinematical variables. This will provide invaluable experience towards the construction of a future large-scale silicon tracker for neutrino oscillation experiments.

Performance of the NOMAD-STAR detector

Abstract The NOMAD-STAR detector is a silicon vertex detector installed in the NOMAD spectrometer at the CERN SPS neutrino beam. It consists of four layers of a passive boron carbide target with a total mass of 45 kg and five layers of 600 single-sided silicon microstrip detectors covering a total area of 1.14 m 2 . About 11,500νμ charged current interactions were reconstructed in the fiducial volume of NOMAD-STAR from the neutrino run in 1998. The potential use of silicon detectors for νμ(νe)↔ντ oscillations depends on the observation of the τ candidates by the experimental signature of a large impact parameter, in the case of the one prong decay of the τ, or a double vertex, in the case of the three prong decay. The main aim of NOMAD-STAR is to measure the impact parameter and vertex distributions of charged current interactions, which constitute the main backgrounds for the oscillation signals, to understand the significance of a potential signal in a future experiment. The present paper describes the experience gained in the operation of this silicon vertex detector, and the performance achieved with it.

Kalman filter tracking and vertexing in a silicon detector for neutrino physics

Abstract This article describes the application of Kalman filter techniques for the tracking and vertexing of particles inside the NOMAD-STAR detector, a silicon vertex detector installed in NOMAD, one of the neutrino oscillation experiments at the CERN-SPS. The use of the Kalman filter simplifies computationally the tracking and vertex procedure for NOMAD-STAR. The alignment of NOMAD-STAR is shown as an example of the application of the Kalman filter for tracking purposes. The accuracy of the method is such that one obtains alignment residuals between 9 and 12 μm . Furthermore, a preliminary measure of the impact parameter (with an RMS ∼36 μm ) illustrates the vertexing capabilities of this technique.

THE COMPACT EMULSION SPECTROMETER

Abstract An emulsion spectrometer has been built and tested with pion beams in a 0.7 T magnetic field. A momentum resolution, ΔP/P=13%±1%, has been obtained for 5 and 10 GeV /c particles.

A SILICON TRACKER FOR TRACK EXTRAPOLATION INTO NUCLEAR EMULSIONS

This paper describes the construction of a silicon tracker built to investigate how well silicon detectors can predict the position of particles in nuclear emulsions over a large area. The tracker consists of 72 single-sided silicon microstrip detectors with a total surface of 0.13 m2 distributed over four layers, providing two x and two y coordinate measurements. The set-up was installed in a CERN PS pion beam in September 1997. ( 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.