S. Orfanelli

A novel Beam Halo Monitor for the CMS experiment at the LHC

A novel Beam Halo Monitor (BHM) has been designed and built for the CMS experiment at the LHC. It will provide an online, bunch-by-bunch measurement of background particles created by interactions of the proton beam with residual gas molecules in the vacuum chamber or with collimator material upstream of CMS. The BHM consists of two arrays of twenty detectors that are mounted around the outer forward shielding of the CMS experiment. Each detector is comprised of a cylindrical quartz radiator, optically coupled to a fast ultraviolet-sensitive photomultiplier tube from one end and painted black at the opposite end. Particles moving towards the photomultiplier tube will be detected with time resolution of a few nanoseconds, allowing to measure the flux of background particles produced upstream of CMS and suppress signals from collision-induced products. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to optimise the detector design. Prior to installation, the performance of the prototype detectors was measured in test beams quantifying the detectors direction-sensitive response and time resolution. The BHM was installed during the first LHC long shutdown (LS1) and is currently being commissioned. Design considerations, results from the test-beams supporting the design and the installation of the BHM in the CMS are presented.

Advanced power analysis methodology targeted to the optimization of a digital pixel readout chip design and its critical serial powering system

A dedicated power analysis methodology, based on modern digital design tools and integrated with the VEPIX53 simulation framework developed within RD53 collaboration, is being used to guide vital choices for the design and optimization of the next generation ATLAS and CMS pixel chips and their critical serial powering circuit (shunt-LDO). Power consumption is studied at different stages of the design flow under different operating conditions. Significant effort is put into extensive investigations of dynamic power variations in relation with the decoupling seen by the powering network. Shunt-LDO simulations are also reported to prove the reliability at the system level.

The CMS Beam Halo Monitor electronics

The CMS Beam Halo Monitor has been successfully installed in the CMS cavern in LHC Long Shutdown 1 for measuring the machine induced background for LHC Run II. The system is based on 40 detector units composed of synthetic quartz Cherenkov radiators coupled to fast photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The readout electronics chain uses many components developed for the Phase 1 upgrade to the CMS Hadronic Calorimeter electronics, with dedicated firmware and readout adapted to the beam monitoring requirements. The PMT signal is digitized by a charge integrating ASIC (QIE10), providing both the signal rise time, with few nanosecond resolution, and the charge integrated over one bunch crossing. The backend electronics uses microTCA technology and receives data via a high-speed 5 Gbps asynchronous link. It records histograms with sub-bunch crossing timing resolution and is read out via IPbus using the newly designed CMS data acquisition for non-event based data. The data is processed in real time and published to CMS and the LHC, providing online feedback on the beam quality. A dedicated calibration monitoring system has been designed to generate short triggered pulses of light to monitor the efficiency of the system. The electronics has been in operation since the first LHC beams of Run II and has served as the first demonstration of the new QIE10, Microsemi Igloo2 FPGA and high-speed 5 Gbps link with LHC data.