M. Anelli

Performance of the LHCb muon system

The performance of the LHCb Muon system and its stability across the full 2010 data taking with LHC running at root s = 7 TeV energy is studied. The optimization of the detector setting and the time calibration performed with the first collisions delivered by LHC is described. Particle rates, measured for the wide range of luminosities and beam operation conditions experienced during the run, are compared with the values expected from simulation. The space and time alignment of the detectors, chamber efficiency, time resolution and cluster size are evaluated. The detector performance is found to be as expected from specifications or better. Notably the overall efficiency is well above the design requirements.

Performance of upstream interaction region detectors for the FIRST experiment at GSI

The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at GSI has been designed to study carbon fragmentation, measuring 12C double differential cross sections (∂2σ/∂θ∂E) for different beam energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/u. The experimental setup integrates newly designed detectors in the, so called, Interaction Region around the graphite target. The Interaction Region upstream detectors are a 250 μm thick scintillator and a drift chamber optimized for a precise measurement of the ions interaction time and position on the target. In this article we review the design of the upstream detectors along with the preliminary results of the data taking performed on August 2011 with 400 MeV/u fully stripped carbon ion beam at GSI. Detectors performances will be reviewed and compared to those obtained during preliminary tests, performed with 500 MeV electrons (at the BTF facility in the INFN Frascati Laboratories) and 80 MeV/u protons and carbon ions (at the INFN LNS Laboratories in Catania).

Quality tests of the LHCb muon chambers at the LNF production site

The performance demanded for the Level-0 trigger of LHCb imposes very stringent requirements on the quality of the muon chambers. These chambers must pass a series of tests before being mounted in the experimental setup. The six tests adopted for the quality control of the chambers produced at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF) are described. After the wires are wound and glued on a cathode panel, the wire pitch is measured by two digital cameras with a precision of about 20 mum. The mechanical tension of the wire is deduced from its mechanical resonance frequency measured by an automated system based on a digital electrostatic method. The wire tension is obtained with a precision of about 1%. Once all elements are assembled, the gas tightness of a chamber is verified by monitoring the decrease rate of an overpressure applied to it. After a suitable high-voltage conditioning, the dark current is recorded and the gas gain uniformity of the chamber is measured using a collimated 137Cs source which can be moved over the chamber surface. Finally, the detector is fully equipped with the front-end electronics, and its detection efficiency is tested with cosmic rays

Performance of the LHCb muon system with cosmic rays

The LHCb Muon system performance is presented using cosmic ray events collected in 2009. These events allowed to test and optimize the detector configuration before the LHC start. The space and time alignment and the measurement of chamber efficiency, time resolution and cluster size are described in detail. The results are in agreement with the expected detector performance.

Measurement of the front-end dead-time of the LHCb muon detector and evaluation of its contribution to the muon detection inefficiency

A method is described which allows to deduce the dead-time of the front-end electronics of the LHCb muon detector from a series of measurements performed at different luminosities at a bunch-crossing rate of 20 MHz. The measured values of the dead-time range from 70 ns to 100 ns. These results allow to estimate the performance of the muon detector at the future bunch-crossing rate of 40 MHz and at higher luminosity.