0000000000017710
AUTHOR
M. Böhm
Recent developments with microchannel-plate PMTs
Abstract Microchannel-plate (MCP) PMTs are the favored photon sensors for the DIRC detectors of the PANDA experiment at FAIR. Until recently the main drawback of MCP-PMTs were serious aging effects which led to a limited lifetime due to a rapidly decreasing quantum efficiency (QE) of the photo cathode (PC) as the integrated anode charge (IAC) increased. In the latest models of PHOTONIS and Hamamatsu an innovative atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique is applied to overcome these limitations. During the last five years comprehensive aging tests with ALD coated MCP-PMTs were performed and the results were compared to tubes treated with other techniques. The QE in dependence of the IAC was m…
Recent progress with microchannel-plate PMTs
Abstract Microchannel-plate (MCP) PMTs were identified as the only suitable photon sensors for the two DIRC detectors of the PANDA experiment at FAIR. As the long-standing aging problem of MCP-PMTs was recently overcome by coating the MCP pores with an atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, further improved 2 ″ MCP-PMTs were investigated. The best PHOTONIS device has reached a lifetime of > 20 C/cm2 integrated anode charge without any sign of aging. Also the newly developed 2 ″ MCP-PMTs of Hamamatsu are maturing and are usable in high rate environments. The status of our long-term lifetime measurements and the performance parameters of the currently most advanced ALD-coated MCP-PMTs from …
Latest improvements of microchannel-plate PMTS
Abstract The DIRC detectors of the PANDA experiment at FAIR will use multi-anode MCP-PMTs as photon sensors. After long and extensive R&D work the performance parameters of the recent 2” MCP-PMT models are converging towards the required values. The lifetime of most ALD-coated MCP-PMTs is well surpassing the DIRC requirements with the best tube currently reaching > 22 C/cm2 integrated anode charge without aging. The performance of the most advanced MCP-PMTs from PHOTONIS and Hamamatsu fulfill basically all requirements with a highlight being the high detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of almost 30% for the PHOTONIS 9002108. The improvements of the latest MCP-PMT models compared to former tu…
The PANDA DIRC Detectors at FAIR
The PANDA detector at the international accelerator Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR) addresses fundamental questions of hadron physics. An excellent hadronic particle identification (PID) will be accomplished by two DIRC (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) counters in the target spectrometer. The design for the barrel region covering polar angles between 22 deg. to 140 deg. is based on the successful BABAR DIRC with several key improvements, such as fast photon timing and a compact imaging region. The novel Endcap Disc DIRC will cover the smaller forward angles between 5 deg. (10 deg.) to 22 deg. in the vertical (horizontal) direction. Both DIRC coun…
Feasibility study for the measurement of πN transition distribution amplitudes at P¯ANDA in p¯p→J/ψπ0
The exclusive charmonium production process in (P) over barp annihilation with an associated pi 0 meson (p) over barp -> J/psi pi(0) is studied in the framework of QCD collinear factorization. The feasibility of measuring this reaction through the J/psi -> e(+) e(-) decay channel with the AntiProton ANnihilation at DArmstadt ((P) over bar ANDA) experiment is investigated. Simulations on signal reconstruction efficiency as well as the background rejection from various sources including the (P) over barp -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0) and (p) over barp -> J/psi pi(0)pi(0) reactions are performed with PANDAROOT, the simulation and analysis software framework of the (P) over bar ANDA experiment. It is show…
The PANDA Endcap Disc DIRC
Journal of Instrumentation 13(02), C02002 - C02002 (2018). doi:10.1088/1748-0221/13/02/C02002
The Barrel DIRC detector of PANDA
The PANDA experiment is one of the four large experiments being built at FAIR in Darmstadt. It will use a cooled antiproton beam on a fixed target within the momentum range of 1.5 to 15 GeV/c to address questions of strong QCD, where the coupling constant $\alpha_s \gtrsim 0.3$. The luminosity of up to $2 \cdot 10^{32} cm^{-2}s^{-1}$ and the momentum resolution of the antiproton beam down to \mbox{$\Delta$p/p = 4$\cdot10^{-5}$} allows for high precision spectroscopy, especially for rare reaction processes. Above the production threshold for open charm mesons the production of kaons plays an important role for identifying the reaction. The DIRC principle allows for a compact particle identif…
Study of doubly strange systems using stored antiprotons
Bound nuclear systems with two units of strangeness are still poorly known despite their importance for many strong interaction phenomena. Stored antiprotons beams in the GeV range represent an unparalleled factory for various hyperon-antihyperon pairs. Their outstanding large production probability in antiproton collisions will open the floodgates for a series of new studies of systems which contain two or even more units of strangeness at the PANDA experiment at FAIR. For the first time, high resolution gamma-spectroscopy of doubly strange Lambda Lambda-hypernuclei will be performed, thus complementing measurements of ground state decays of Lambda Lambda-hypernuclei at J-PARC or possible …
Particle Identification with DIRCs at PANDA
The DIRC technology (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) offers an excellent possibility to minimize the form factor of Cherenkov detectors in hermetic high energy detectors. The PANDA experiment at FAIR in Germany will combine a barrel-shaped DIRC with a disc-shaped DIRC to cover an angular range of 5 to 140 degrees. Particle identification for pions and kaons with a separation power of 3 standard deviations or more will be provided for momenta between 0.5 GeV/c and 3.5 GeV/c in the barrel region and up to 4 GeV/c in the forward region. Even though the concept is simple, the design and construction of a DIRC is challenging. High precision optics and mechanics are required to…
The PANDA Barrel DIRC
The PANDA experiment at the international accelerator Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR) near GSI, Darmstadt, Germany will address fundamental questions of hadron physics. Excellent Particle Identification (PID) over a large range of solid angles and particle momenta will be essential to meet the objectives of the rich physics program. Charged PID for the barrel region of the PANDA target spectrometer will be provided by a DIRC (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) detector. The Barrel DIRC will cover the polar angle range of 22$^\circ$-140$^\circ$ and cleanly separate charged pions from kaons for momenta between 0.5 GeV/c and 3.5 GeV/c with a separation…
Recent results with lifetime enhanced microchannel-plate photomultipliers
Abstract The favored photon sensors for the DIRC (detection of internally reflected Cherenkov light) detectors at the PANDA (Anti-proton Annihilation at Darmstadt) experiment at FAIR (Facility for anti-proton and ion research) are micro-channel-plate photomultipliers (MCP-PMTs). The main problem until a few years ago was the limited lifetime of the MCP-PMTs caused by a rapid decrease in quantum efficiency (QE) of the photo cathode (PC) with increasing integrated anode charge (IAC). These limitations are overcome by applying an atomic layer deposition (ALD) coating on the MCPs, as recently done by PHOTONIS and Hamamatsu. During the last years’ tests of lifetime enhanced MCP-PMTs were perform…
Lifetime of MCP-PMTs and other performance features
The ANDA experiment at FAIR will use DIRC detectors for the separation of hadrons. The compactness of the ANDA detector requires the image planes of these detectors to be placed inside the magnetic field of the solenoid. Due to this and other boundary conditions MCP-PMTs were identified as the only suitable photon sensors. Until recently the major obstacle for an application of MCP-PMTs in high rate experiments like ANDA were serious aging problems which led to damage at the photo-cathode and a fast declining quantum efficiency as the integrated anode charge (IAC) increased. With new countermeasures against the aging, in particular due to the application of an atomic layer deposition (ALD) …
The PANDA DIRC detectors
Abstract The PANDA experiment at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) will address fundamental questions of hadron physics with unprecedented precision. To reach this goal excellent Particle Identification (PID) is essential over a large range of particle momenta and solid angles. Most of the phase space will be covered by two innovative DIRC (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) detectors. The Endcap Disc DIRC and Barrel DIRC will cover the polar angle range from 5 to 22°and 22 to 140°, respectively. Both detectors rely on high precision optical components, lifetime-enhanced Microchannel Plate PMTs (MCP-PMTs), and fast readout electronics.
The Endcap Disc DIRC detector of PANDA
Abstract At the international FAIR laboratory, an upcoming significant enlargement of the GSI installations near Darmstadt, Germany, the PANDA antiproton experiment will investigate fundamental questions of hadron physics in the charm quark energy range. Antiprotons in the 1.5 to15 GeV/c momentum range will interact with gas jet or pellet fixed targets. The Endcap Disc DIRC (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) covers the forward endcap solid angle of the PANDA target spectrometer to positively identify charged kaons. Monte-Carlo simulations indicate that from 1 up to 4 GeV/c one can achieve kaon–pion separation with a separation power of at least 3 standard deviations. For th…
Particle identification algorithms for the PANDA Barrel DIRC
The International Conference Instrumentation for Colliding Beam Physics , INSTR2020, Novosibirsk, Russia, 24 Feb 2020 - 28 Feb 2020; Journal of Instrumentation 15(09), C09057 (2020). doi:10.1088/1748-0221/15/09/C09057
Time imaging reconstruction for the PANDA Barrel DIRC
The innovative Barrel DIRC (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) counter will provide hadronic particle identification (PID) in the central region of the PANDA experiment at the new Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), Darmstadt, Germany. This detector is designed to separate charged pions and kaons with at least 3 standard deviations for momenta up to 3.5 GeV/c, covering the polar angle range of 22$^{\circ}$-140$^{\circ}$. An array of microchannel plate photomultiplier tubes is used to detect the location and arrival time of the Cherenkov photons with a position resolution of 2 mm and time precision of about 100 ps. The time imaging reconstruction has been develop…
Endcap Disc DIRC for PANDA at FAIR
The Endcap Disc DIRC (EDD) has been developed to provide an excellent particle identification in the future PANDA experiment by separating pions and kaons up to a momentum of 4 GeV/c with a separation power of 3 s.d.. The detector is placed in the forward endcap of the PANDA target spectrometer. It consists of a fused silica plate and focusing elements placed at the outer rim, which focus the Cherenkov light on the photo cathodes of the attached MCP-PMTs. A compact and fast readout of the signals is realized with special ASICs. The performance has been studied and validated with different prototype setups in various testbeam facilities.