P. Riedler

Production and detection of cold antihydrogen atoms.

A theoretical underpinning of the standard model of fundamental particles and interactions is CPT invariance, which requires that the laws of physics be invariant under the combined discrete operations of charge conjugation, parity and time reversal. Antimatter, the existence of which was predicted by Dirac, can be used to test the CPT theorem—experimental investigations involving comparisons of particles with antiparticles are numerous. Cold atoms and anti-atoms, such as hydrogen and antihydrogen, could form the basis of a new precise test, as CPT invariance implies that they must have the same spectrum. Observations of antihydrogen in small quantities and at high energies have been reported at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and at Fermilab, but these experiments were not suited to precision comparison measurements. Here we demonstrate the production of antihydrogen atoms at very low energy by mixing trapped antiprotons and positrons in a cryogenic environment. The neutral anti-atoms have been detected directly when they escape the trap and annihilate, producing a characteristic signature in an imaging particle detector.

First results from the ALICE silicon pixel detector prototype

Abstract System prototyping of the ALICE silicon pixel detector (SPD) is well underway. The ALICE SPD consists of two barrel layers with 9.83 million channels in total. These are read out by the ALICE1LHCb pixel chip, which has been developed in a commercial 0.25 μm process with radiation hardening by design layout. The readout chip contains 8192 pixel cells each with a fast analog preamplifier and shaper followed by a discriminator and digital delay lines. Test results show a pixel cell noise of about 110 electrons rms and a mean minimum threshold of about 1000 electrons rms before threshold fine tuning. Several readout chips have been flip-chip bonded to detectors using two different bump-bonding techniques (solder, indium). Results of radioactive source measurements of these assemblies are presented for 90 Sr and 55 Fe sources. Several chip-detector assemblies have been tested in a 150 GeV / c pion beam at CERN where an online efficiency of about 99% across a wide range of detector bias and threshold settings was observed. All preliminary investigations confirm the functionality of the chip and the chip-detector assemblies for the ALICE experiment.

The Alice silicon pixel detector

CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland Universita degli Studi di Padova, I-35131, Padova, Italy Dipartimento IA di Fisica e Sez. INFN di Bari, I-70126,Bari,Italy Comenius University, SK-84215 Bratislava, Slovakia NIKHEF, National Institute for Nuclear Physics and High Energy Physics, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands Slovak Academy of Sciences, SK-04353, Kosice, Slovakia Universita di Roma I, La Sapienza, I-00185, Roma, Italy

Monolithic active pixel sensor development for the upgrade of the ALICE inner tracking system

ALICE plans an upgrade of its Inner Tracking System for 2018. The development of a monolithic active pixel sensor for this upgrade is described. The TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS imaging sensor process has been chosen as it is possible to use full CMOS in the pixel due to the offering of a deep pwell and also to use different starting materials. The ALPIDE development is an alternative to approaches based on a rolling shutter architecture, and aims to reduce power consumption and integration time by an order of magnitude below the ALICE specifications, which would be quite beneficial in terms of material budget and background. The approach is based on an in-pixel binary front-end combined with a hit-driven architecture. Several prototypes have already been designed, submitted for fabrication and some of them tested with X-ray sources and particles in a beam. Analog power consumption has been limited by optimizing the Q/C of the sensor using Explorer chips. Promising but preliminary first results have also been obtained with a prototype ALPIDE. Radiation tolerance up to the ALICE requirements has also been verified.

A pixel front-end ASIC in 0.13 μm CMOS for the NA62 experiment with on pixel 100 ps Time-to-Digital Converter

The paper describes the design of a front-end chip for hybrid pixel detectors optimized for good timing resolution (200 ps rms) and high event rate (150 kHz per pixel). Each channel consists of a fast transimpedance amplifier with 5 ns peaking time, a constant fraction discriminator (CFD), and a Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC). In order to cope with the rate requirement, a multi-event buffering scheme employing both analog and digital pipelines is implemented in each cell. This development is part of the R&D activity for the silicon tracker of the NA62 experiment at CERN. The architecture of the chip and the design of the critical building blocks are discussed in the paper.

Low-Power Amplifier-Discriminators for High Time Resolution Detection

Low-power amplifier-discriminators based on a so-called NINO architecture have been developed with high time resolution for the readout of radiation detectors. Two different circuits were integrated in the NINO13 chip, processed in IBM 130 nm CMOS technology. The LCO version (Low Capacitance and consumption Optimization) was designed for potential use as front-end electronics in the Gigatracker of the NA62 experiment at CERN. It was developed as pixel readout for solid-state pixel detectors to permit minimum ionizing particle detection with less than 180 ps rms resolution per pixel on the output pulse, for power consumption below 300 muW per pixel. The HCO version (High Capacitance Optimization) was designed with 4 mW power consumption per channel to provide timing resolution below 20 ps rms on the output pulse, for charges above 10 fC. Results presented show the potential of the LCO and HCO circuits for the precise timing readout of solid-state detectors, vacuum tubes or gas detectors, for applications in high energy physics, bio-technologies or medical imaging.

Recent results from the ATLAS SCT irradiation programme

Abstract The irradiation facility at the CERN proton synchrotron, set up to irradiate full-size prototypes of silicon microstrip detectors for the ATLAS semiconductor tracker, is described and measurements of the detector currents during irradiation are reported. The detector dark currents can be described by bulk radiation damage models demonstrating the radiation hardness of the detector design and allowing the current damage factor α and the acceptor introduction term β to be determined. Results from testbeam studies of a module with an irradiated detector and binary readout in a magnetic field and with the beam incident over a range of angles are reported. The hit efficiency and spatial resolution satisfy the requirements for the SCT provided the detector is operated at the full charge collection voltage. The Lorentz angle was not found to be affected by the irradiation.

Radiation hardness and detector performance of new 180nm CMOS MAPS prototype test structures developed for the upgrade of the ALICE Inner Tracking System

The features of the 180nm TowerJazz1 CMOS technology allow for the first time the use of CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) under the harsh operational conditions of the LHC experiments. The stringent requirements of the ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS) in terms of material budget, radiation hardness, readout speed and a low power consumption have thus lead to the choice of MAPS as baseline technology option for the recently approved upgrade of the ITS and are the key drivers for R&D efforts on basic transistor and Explorer and MIMOSA pixel sensor prototypes produced in TowerJazz technology. Though the radiation loads expected for the ITS are below those of ATLAS and CMS, it is however necessary to assess the radiation hardness for ITS MAPS prototypes. Total Ionizing Dose (TID) radiation hardness has been established for basic transistor structures using a 60keV X-ray machine. The main operational characteristics and detection properties such as noise, charge collection efficiency and signal over noise ratio of Explorer-0 and MIMOSA32 and MIMOSA34 pixel sensor prototypes have been studied using X-rays (55Fe) and test beams at CERN and DESY before and after Non Ionizing Energy Loss (NIEL) and TID irradiation. In this paper the results of these R&D activities will be presented and discussed.

A comparison of the performance of irradiated p-in-n and n-in-n silicon microstrip detectors read out with fast binary electronics

Abstract Both n-strip on n-bulk and p-strip on n-bulk silicon microstrip detectors have been irradiated at the CERN PS to a fluence of 3×10 14 p cm −2 and their post-irradiation performance compared using fast binary readout electronics. Results are presented for test beam measurements of the efficiency and resolution as a function of bias voltage made at the CERN SPS, and for noise measurements giving detector strip quality. The detectors come from four different manufacturers and were made as prototypes for the SemiConductor Tracker of the ATLAS experiment at the CERN LHC.

Performance of Si pad sensors for a RICH detector

Abstract Si pad sensors with 256 cells have been used to detect single photoelectrons from a CsI photocathode. These sensors are part of a Hybrid Photon Detector (HPD) to be used in a RICH detector in the LHC-B experiment. The I - V and C - V measurements are presented. The pad sensors are read out with the low-noise VA2 chip. Results from tests with these detectors with a 90 Sr source are reported. Measurements of photoelectrons created by 160 nm wavelength photons in a CsI cathode in a test set-up are also reported. Finally, the prospects of using such sensors with fast LHC readout electronics are discussed.