Particle detectors at future generation colliders (J1-3620)

The spearhead of research in particle physics in the coming decade will be directed towards two frontiers: the energy frontier at the Large Hadron Collider and the precision frontier at the B-factory. The ultimate goal of these complementary approaches is to establish signals of physics beyond the Standard model. The common aspect of the two colliders is the increased luminosity, be it the tenfold increase of proton-proton collisions in the upgraded LHC (sLHC) or the 80-fold increase of electron-positron collisions in Super-KEKB.

The increased particle rates pose requirements that cannot be coped with by a substantial part of the current detector systems. The main burden of the sLHC is the tenfold increase in particle rates. This results in increased detector occupancy and subsequent radiation damage, especially in the innermost tracking detectors that will have to be replaced. Equivalently, the time between interactions at Super-KEKB gets reduced beyond capability of the installed Belle detector, so essentially a general upgrade to Belle II is under way.

The proposed project is aimed to provide support to both detector upgrades in two aspects: the tracker of ATLAS and the Cherenkov detector of Belle II.

The short-term goal in the ATLAS upgrade is the sensor choice for the Insertable B-Layer (IBL) upgrade to be installed end 2014 to compensate for the reduced efficiency of the pixel detector. The long-term is the participation in the construction of the silicon strip tracker to cover about 200 m2 of the outer tracker layer for the sLHC upgrade around 2018. In the IBL sensor choice we are proponents of the pCVD diamond option. Should a competing silicon sensor (3D, planar) be chosen, we will participate in the IBL module evaluation and further develop the diamond option for the innermost layer(s) of the upgraded pixel detector. For the strip part of the detector upgrade the silicon sensor is uncontested, so research will be directed into verification of the module and integration concepts with the aim to optimize towards a balanced detector with adequate performance and affordable cost.

The research will be carried out in the scope of the ATLAS IBL project and two ATLAS R&D upgrade projects on diamond vertex detector and planar silicon strip detectors. Generic part of the research will be done in the framework of CERN RD-42 (diamond detectors) and RD-50 (radiation hard silicon) collaborations.

Within the proposed project, we plan to develop two new methods for the identification of charged particles for the Belle II spectrometer. Both methods are based on the detection of Cherenkov photons. The first one employs a novel type of ring imaging Cherenkov (RICH) counter with a focusing aerogel radiator. The second method combines the measurement of coordinates of the Cherenkov photon impact point on the exit plane from a quartz radiator with a very precise measurement of the time of arrival. In the development of the two methods the main challenge are position sensitive sensors for single photons; the sensors have to operate reliably over extended periods of time in a high magnetic field (1.5 T) at a high hit density and in the presence of a sizeable neutron background. The high hit rates and the need for a precise measurement of time of arrival require a tuning of the parameters of the read-out electronics, which has been developed specifically for this purpose. With a realistic computer simulation of the detector response, we will optimize the configuration of the two detectors. Within the project, we will design, construct and test prototypes of both types of detectors. In the final stages of the project, individual components of the final version of the two detector systems will be tested before installation