NEWAGE(NEw generation WIMP search with an Advanced Gaseous tracking device Experiment) project is a direction-sensitive dark matter search experiment with a gaseous micro time-projection-chamber(micro-TPC). We report on the performance of the micro-TPC with a detection volume of 23x28x30 cm3 operated with a carbon-tetra uoride (CF4) of 0.2 bar.
A Hadron Blind Detector (HBD) has been developed, constructed and successfully operated within the PHENIX detector at RHIC. The HBD is a Cherenkov detector operated with pure CF4. It has a 50 cm long radiator directly coupled in a window- less configuration to a readout element consisting of a triple GEM stack, with a CsI photocathode evaporated on the top surface of the top GEM and pad readout at the bottom of the stack. This paper gives a comprehensive account of the construction, operation and in-beam performance of the detector.
This paper describes the design and performance of a 50 liter, two-segment $^{6}$Li-loaded liquid scintillator detector that was designed and operated as prototype for the PROSPECT (Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum) Experiment. The two-segment detector was constructed according to the design specifications of the experiment. It features low-mass optical separators, an integrated source and optical calibration system, and materials that are compatible with the $^{6}$Li-doped scintillator developed by PROSPECT. We demonstrate a high light collection of 850$pm$20 PE/MeV, an energy resolution of $sigma$ = 4.0$pm$0.2% at 1 MeV, and efficient pulse-shape discrimination of low $dE/dx$ (electronic recoil) and high $dE/dx$ (nuclear recoil) energy depositions. An effective scintillation attenuation length of 85$pm$3 cm is measured in each segment. The 0.1% by mass concentration of $^{6}$Li in the scintillator results in a measured neutron capture time of $tau$ = 42.8$pm$0.2 $mu s$. The long-term stability of the scintillator is also discussed. The detector response meets the criteria necessary for achieving the PROSPECT physics goals and demonstrates features that may find application in fast neutron detection.
The SoLid collaboration has developed a new detector technology to detect electron anti-neutrinos at close proximity to the Belgian BR2 reactor at surface level. A 288$,$kg prototype detector was deployed in 2015 and collected data during the operational period of the reactor and during reactor shut-down. Dedicated calibration campaigns were also performed with gamma and neutron sources. This paper describes the construction of the prototype detector with a high control on its proton content and the stability of its operation over a period of several months after deployment at the BR2 reactor site. All detector cells provide sufficient light yields to achieve a target energy resolution of better than 20%/$sqrt{E(MeV)}$. The capability of the detector to track muons is exploited to equalize the light response of a large number of channels to a precision of 3% and to demonstrate the stability of the energy scale over time. Particle identification based on pulse-shape discrimination is demonstrated with calibration sources. Despite a lower neutron detection efficiency due to triggering constraints, the main backgrounds at the reactor site were determined and taken into account in the shielding strategy for the main experiment. The results obtained with this prototype proved essential in the design optimization of the final detector. This paper is dedicated to our SCK$cdot$CEN colleague, Edgar Koonen, who passed away unexpectedly in 2017. Edgar was part of the SoLid collaboration since its inception and his efforts were vital to get the experiment started. He will be duly missed.
The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector is crucial for the identification of charged particles in the NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS. The detector commissioning was completed in 2016 by the precise alignment of mirrors using reconstructed tracks. The alignment procedure and measurement of the basic performance are described. Ring radius resolution, ring centre resolution, single hit resolution and mean number of hits per ring are evaluated for positron tracks. The contribution of the residual mirror misalignment to the performance is calculated.
A gaseous pixel readout module with four GridPix chips, called the quad, has been developed as a building block for a large time projection chamber readout plane. The quad module has dimensions 39.6 mm $times$ 28.38 mm and an active surface coverage of 68.9%. The GridPix chip consists of a Timepix3 chip with integrated amplification grid and have a high efficiency to detect single ionisation electrons, which enable to make a precise track position measurement. A quad module was installed in a small time projection chamber and measurements of 2.5 GeV electrons were performed at the ELSA accelerator in Bonn, where a silicon telescope was used to provide a reference track. The error on the track position measurement, both in the pixel plane and drift direction, is dominated by diffusion. The quad was designed to have minimum electrical field inhomogeneities and distortions, achieving systematics of better than 13 $mu$m in the pixel plane. The resolution of the setup is 41 $mu$m, where the total systematic error of the quad detector is 24 $mu$m.