The data-acquisition system for the CMS tracker beam tests

This paper describes the conception and the development of a real-time data-acquisition system for prototype detectors of the Tracker being designed for the compact muon solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider of CERN, European Laboratory for Particle Physics, Geneva, Switzerland. The rationale for the development of a dedicated data-acquisition system was the need to perform two fundamental beam tests (the “Milestone Barrel 1” and “Milestone Forward 1”), with large-scale prototypes of the detectors planned as the baseline design. The number of readout channels, the complexity of the readout electronics, and the stringent requirements of the milestone tests mandated that a thorough understanding of the issues related to the physics of the detectors themselves be coupled with the application of leading-edge electronic and software engineering technologies. The implementation described in this paper is based on a distributed architecture. An event builder CPU handles the two main tasks of synchronizing a variable number of front-end processors and formatting the data in preparation for the transfer to a dedicated high-performance storage system, while the front-end processors handle the hardware and the real-time readout. Additional workstations are used to decouple the actual task of transferring the data files and monitoring the detector performance on-line from the readout farm. The system has been successfully operated during the two aforementioned Milestone tests, allowing the CMS Tracker collaboration to pass them, with the simultaneous readout of up to 40000 detector channels. The results of the two Milestones have led to the compilation of the “Tracker Technical Design Report”. Subsequently, the same readout system has been used for a number of other beam tests, and it has formed the basis for the development of further, more advanced data-acquisition systems for the new readout electronic of the CMS Tracker     

igh statistics study of radiation damage on silicon microstripdetectors

This paper investigates the performance of silicon microstrip detectors after heavy irradiation. Full-size prototype sensors (53 × 64 mm²) designed for the CMS Tracker have been irradiated with protons and extensively studied in the laboratory and using a beam of minimum ionising particles operated at low temperature as foreseen for the Large Hadron Collider. We present results of large statistics measurements of collected charge, noise, position resolution, and hit finding efficiency for these irradiated detectors     

Study of 18-cm long single-sided AC-coupled silicon microstripdetectors

The SSC GEM silicon Central Tracker design incorporated 18-cm long single-sided AC-coupled silicon microstrip ladders. Compared to the 12-cm long ladders considered in the preliminary stages of the tracker design, the 18-cm long ladders have the advantage of reduced cost, channel count and overall power consumption, and led to a simplified tracker assembly. However, such long ships also present the challenge of maintaining satisfactory performance. The increased capacitance and series resistance contribute to lower signal-to-noise ratios, longer time walk, higher power consumption per channel and increased probability of crosstalk to neighboring channels. In this paper, an accurate method to calculate the geometric capacitance of the AC-coupled microstrips is presented and the calculated results are compared with measurements, SPICE simulations are performed to predict the noise, the extent of interstrip capacitive coupling and the dispersion of the detector signal due to the finite series resistance of the metal strips and the long length of the detector. The influence of the preamplifier current and the shaping time on the signal and noise levels is also presented. The study concludes that the 18-cm long ladders can successfully satisfy the performance goals of the GEM silicon Central Tracker     

A two-level fanout system for the CDF silicon vertex tracker

The Fanout system is part of the Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT), a new trigger processor designed to reconstruct charged particle trajectories at level 2 (L2) of the CDF trigger, with a latency of 10 μs and an event rate up to 100 kHz. The core of SVT is organized as 12 identical slices, which process in parallel the data from the 12 independent azimuthal wedges of the Silicon Vertex Detector (SVXII). Each SVT slice links the digitized pulse heights found within one SVXII wedge to the tracks reconstructed by the level I (L1) fast track finder (XFT) in the corresponding 30° angular region of the Central Outer Tracker (COT). Since the XFT tracks are transmitted to SVT as a single data stream, their distribution to the proper SVT slices requires dedicated fanout logic. The fanout system has been implemented as a multiboard project running on a common 20 MHz clock. Track fanout is performed in two steps by one "Fanout A" and two "Fanout B" boards. The architecture, design, and implementation of this system are described     

Single event upset tests of an 80-Mb/s optical receiver

This paper studies the single event upset (SEU) sensitivity of a radiation-tolerant 80-Mb/s receiver developed for the CMS Tracker digital optical link. Bit error rate (BER) measurements were made while irradiating the receiver with protons and neutrons at different beam energies and incident angles and for a wide range of optical power levels in the link. Monte Carlo simulations have also been used to assist in the interpretation of the experimental results. As expected, the photodiode is the most sensitive element to SEU. The fake signal induced by direct ionization dominates the bit-error cross-section only for protons incident on the photodiode at large angles and low levels of optical power. Comparison of the neutron and proton bit-error cross-sections demonstrates that nuclear interactions contribute significantly to the proton-induced SEU errors and that they will dominate the radiation-induced error rate in the real Tracker application     

Large-volume thallium bromide detectors for gamma-ray spectroscopy

Thallium bromide (TlBr) is a wide-bandgap compound semiconductor characterized with high photon stopping power. In this study, large-volume γ-ray detectors (approximately 3.8 × 3.8 × 3.8 mm³) have been fabricated from TlBr crystals grown by the horizontal travelling molten zone (TMZ) method using zone-purified material. In order to extract the energy information of the incident radiation from the thick detectors, the short charge-collection time technique has been applied to the detectors. By this technique, the induced charge on the electrode is measured for a period of time that is short compared to the carrier transit time in order to minimize the deviation of the measured induced charge. The large-volume TlBr detectors irradiated with ²²Na and ¹³⁷ Cs γ-ray sources at room temperature have exhibited energy resolutions of 18.7% and 17.4% (FWHM) for the 511- and 662-keV peaks, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first time that full-energy peaks have been obtained from TlBr detectors several millimeters thick. The time stability of the detector operation is also studied     

Modified Reconstruction of Neutron Spectrum Emitted in Dense Plasma Focus Devices by MCNP Code and Monte-Carlo Method

In this study we present Monte Carlo method for obtaining the time-resolved energy spectra of neutrons emitted by D-D reaction in plasma focus devices. Angular positions of detectors obtained to maximum reconstruction of neutron spectrum. The detectors were arranged over a range of 0–22.5 m from the source and also at 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° with respect to the central axis. The results show that an arrangement with five detectors placed at 0, 2, 7.5, 15 and 22.5 m around the central electrode of plasma focus as an anisotropic neutron source is required. As it shown in reconstructed spectrum, the distance between the neutron source and detectors is reduced and also the final reconstructed signal obtained with a very fine accuracy.     

Effect of metal electrode on characteristics of gamma-irradiated silicon carbide detector

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a highly promising semiconductor neutron-detector material for harsh environments such as nuclear reactor cores and spent-fuel storage pools. In the present study, three 4H–SiC p–i–n diode detectors were fabricated as variations of those metal-electrode structures. The I–V characteristics and alpha-particle responses of the detectors were measured before and after gamma-ray exposure. The detector with a Ti/Au electrode showed the lowest change of leakage current after irradiation; none of the detectors showed any change in the charge-collection efficiency when a sufficient electric field was applied after gamma irradiation of up to 8.1 MGy.     

Optimal processing of information from detectors used for detecting explosives by neutron-radiation analysis

The optimization is accomplished on the basis of methods used for checking statistical hypotheses. Two possible methods for processing information from γ-ray detectors are examined: setting a threshold according to a general likelihood ratio including all combinations of detectors or separate combinations of detectors. In the second case, all possible combinations of detectors must be sorted when the measurements are analyzed. Calculations for a specific setup with six detectors show that sorting detector combinations permits detection of smaller quantities of explosives than can be done with a general likelihood ratio. A sequential analysis instead of sorting detector combinations permits identifying explosives more quickly than can be done with a general likelihood ratio. __________ Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 101, No. 5, pp. 379–387, November, 2006.     

Applications of Detectors in Low Energy Nuclear Physics

This review paper discusses new applications of detectors in low energy nuclear physics and emphasizes semiconductor particle detectors where new developments have had an outstanding influence on the nuclear physics which can be done. The paper includes an account of: new limits of detector resolution; a new method for measurement of gamma ray lifetimes; gamma-gamma angular correlation studies with multiple scintillation detectors; kinematic energy shift correction with radial position sensitive detectors; an improved particle identification system with multiple detectors; and the application of germanium to measurements of long-range charged particles. The paper also discusses present state-of-the-art limitations and possibilities in areas of particular importance to nuclear physics.     

HICS: Highly charged ion collisions with surfaces

The layout of a new instrument designed to study the interaction of highly charged ions with surfaces, which consists of an ion source, a beamline including charge separation and a target chamber, is presented here. By varying the charge state and impact velocity of the projectiles separately, the dissipation of potential and kinetic energy at or below the surface can be studied independently. The target chamber offers the use of tunable metal-insulator-metal devices as detectors for internal electronic excitation, a time-of-flight system to study the impact induced particle emission and the possibility to transfer samples in situ to an ultra high vacuum (UHV) scanning probe microscope. Samples and detectors can be prepared in situ as well. As a first example data on graphene layers on SrTiO₃ which have been irradiated with Xe³⁶⁺ are presented.     

Fast neutron radiation effects in silicon detectors fabricated bydifferent thermal oxidation processes

High resistivity silicon detectors along with MOS capacitors made on five silicon dioxides with different thermal conditions (975°C to 1200°C) have been exposed to fast neutron irradiation up to the fluence of a few times 10¹⁴ n/cm². New measurement techniques such as capacitance-voltage of MOS capacitors and current-voltage and back-to-back diodes (p⁺-n^--p ⁺ if n^- is not inverted to p) or resistors (p⁺-p-p⁺ if inverted) have been introduced in this study in monitoring the possible type-inversion (n→p) under high neutron fluence. No type-inversion in the material underneath SiO₂ and the p⁺ contact has been observed for detectors made on the five oxides up to the neutron fluence of a few times 10¹³ n/cm². However, it has been found that detectors made on higher temperature oxides (⩾1100°C) exhibited less leakage current increase at high neutron fluence     

Neutron dosimeters employing high-efficiency perforated semiconductor detectors

A technology that makes use of recently developed high-efficiency, low-power semiconductor detectors for neutron dosimetry is described. Silicon semiconductor material is perforated using plasma etching techniques; the surface is then coated and the perforations are filled with neutron reactive material. These perforated detectors appear to be capable of greater than 40% efficiency when used in a sandwich design. Devices incorporating bare and cadmium-filtered perforated semiconductor detectors with micro-controller hardware to process and readout the detectors can be made small enough to function as portable neutron dosimeters. Monte Carlo modeling that relates the detector responses to phantom dose equivalent at various positions on an elliptical water phantom is discussed.     

Self-calibrating position-sensitive silicon detectors

Position-sensitive silicon detectors with discrete position output signal levels, which have been developed for heavy ion reaction studies at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory are discussed. The detectors, both 300- and 5000-μm thick, for use in ΔE-E telescopes, use a series of high and low conductivity strips on the detector p⁺ contact to produce a position signal with 15 discrete levels. Since the position of the signals from the strips is known, the detectors are self-calibrating against position nonlinearities. Some aspects of the fabrication of both the 300- and 5000-μm detectors are discussed, along with their operating characteristics. Illustrative experimental results of ¹³⁹La-induced reactions on ⁴⁰Ca targets are presented     

基于辐射探测器阵列的单个γ源定位方法

采用探测器阵列并通过数据的自动处理实现辐射源的定位,是信息时代物联网工程对辐射信息监控的基本要求。为此,本文初步讨论了数学分析法、数学统计法和邻近探测器数据比较法三种定位方法,并采用MCNP5软件对通道内单个γ源的一维定位监控进行了数值仿真分析。结果表明,数学分析法和数学统计法的定位能力均优于工程上常用的邻近探测器数据比较法,前者需要的探测器数量少,但在多个探测器存在时误差随探测器组合而产生较大的变化。数学统计法需要多个探测器形成阵列,但定位精度很高,可用于大剂量或重要放射性部件的精确位置监控。     

基于多种探测算法结果分级融合的PET探测器晶体查找表建立算法

高分辨率是现代正电子发射型断层显像仪(Positron Emission Tomography,PET)设备最重要的技术指标之一,高分辨率PET探测器通常由海量闪烁晶体组成,这使得探测器校准时,晶体查找表建立的工作量大幅增加,从而对相关自动化算法的鲁棒性提出了更高的要求。目前,晶体阵列的矫正主要依赖固定放射源对探测器晶体阵列成像得到的光子二维位置直方图。高分辨率PET探测器的晶体阵列中晶体个数增多,尺寸变小,导致二维位置直方图信噪比下降,且非线性形变更加复杂,使已有的晶体查找表建立算法都无法得到理想的自动化效率。在测试了多种前沿的晶体查找表建立算法后发现,某些算法的结果之间有很强的互补性,可以通过将多种算法结果相融合的方法得到优于单一探测算法的结果。因此提出了一种基于多种探测算法结果分级融合的晶体查找表建立算法,在实现过程中选取了三种互补性较强的晶体探测方法,分级融合其结果,大幅度降低了二维位置直方图上晶体分割的出错概率,获得了鲁棒的结果。     

Investigation of the two-phase flow in a boiling water reactor using neutron-noise technique

In this paper, the fluctuations of the neutron flux (“neutron noise”) of the Mühleberg BWR are investigated. Above 2 Hz, the noise measured by the in-core neutron detectors is driven exclusively by local fluctuations of the void fraction. Characteristic changes of the neutron-noise signature along the axis can be attributed to changes of flow pattern. By measuring the phase lag between pairs of axially placed neutron detectors, the transit time of the steam between the detectors can be evaluated. The measured transit times are applied to the study of two-phase flow in the core. The neutron-noise method has the advantage of providing in-core information under operational conditions.     

Development of semiconductor detectors based on wide-gap materials

The properties of promising materials for uncooled semiconductor x- and -ray detectors are examined. Work being performed in this field in our country is briefly described. The spectrometric parameters of detectors based on CdTe, GaAs, HgI₂, and TlBr crystals are presented. Small, according to sensitivity, detectors based on Cd_xZn_1-xTe and HgI₂ have the best room-temperature resolution. Individual samples and experimental batches of such detectors have been tested and used under industrial and field conditions. The results obtained with TlBr crystals are interesting.Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 97, No. 5, pp. 362–370, November, 2004.     

晶体表面处理对用于PET的一种深度检出型探测器的时间响应特性的影响

晶体的不同的表面处理影响着总的光输出量,进而影响有它们构成的PET探测器的性能。为了优化设计一个新提出的深度检出型探测器,比较研究了不同表面情况的LSO晶体组成的该探测器的光输出量和时间分辨率特性。     

Monte Carlo Simulation of Determining Porosity by Using Dual Gamma Detectors

Current formation elementsspectroscopy logging technology utilize ²⁴¹Am-Be neutron source andsingle BGO detector to determine elements contents. It plays an important rolein mineral analysis and lithology identification of unconventional oil and gasexploration, but information measured is relatively limited. Measured systembased on ²⁴¹Am-Be neutron and dual detectors can be developed torealize the measurement of elements content as well as determine neutron gammaporosity by using ratio of gamma count between near and far detectors.Calculation model is built by Monte Carlo method to study neutron gamma porositylogging response with different spacing and shields. And it is concluded thatmeasuring neutron gamma have high counts and good statistical propertycontrasted with measuring thermal neutron, but the sensitivity of porositydecrease. Sensitivity of porosity will increase as the spacing of dual detectorincreases. Spacing of far and near detectors should be around 62 cm and 35 cmrespectively. Gamma counts decrease and neutron gamma porosity sensitivityincrease when shield is fixed between neutron and detector. The length of mainshield should be greater than 10 cm and associated shielding is about 5 cm. ByMonte Carlo Simulation study, the result provides technical support fordetermining porosity in formation elements spectroscopy logging using ²⁴¹Am-Beneutron and gamma detectors.