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The Aerogel Cerenkov detector for the SHMS magnetic spectrometer in Hall C at Jefferson Lab

Journal Article · · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [3];  [7];  [3];  [6];  [3];  [8];  [8];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [6]
  1. The Catholic Univ. of America, Washington, D.C. (United States); Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)
  2. A.I. Aikhanyan National Science Lab., Yerevan (Armenia)
  3. The Catholic Univ. of America, Washington, D.C. (United States)
  4. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
  5. Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State, MS (United States)
  6. Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)
  7. Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States)
  8. Florida Intl Univ., Miami, FL (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Hadronic reactions producing strange quarks such as exclusive or semi-inclusive kaon production, play an important role in studies of hadron structure and the dynamics that bind the most basic elements of nuclear physics. The small-angle capability of the new Super High Momentum Spectrometer (SHMS) in Hall C, coupled with its high momentum reach - up to the anticipated 11-GeV beam energy in Hall C - and coincidence capability with the well-understood High Momentum Spectrometer, will allow for probes of such hadron structure involving strangeness down to the smallest distance scales to date. To cleanly select the kaons, a threshold aerogel Cerenkov detector has been constructed for the SHMS. The detector consists of an aerogel tray followed by a diffusion box. Four trays for aerogel of nominal refractive indices of n=1.030, 1.020, 1.015 and 1.011 were constructed. The tray combination will allow for identification of kaons from 1 GeV/c up to 7.2 GeV/c, reaching 10-2 proton and 10-3 pion rejection, with kaon detection efficiency better than 95%. The diffusion box of the detector is equipped with 14 five-inch diameter photomultiplier tubes. Its interior walls are covered with Gore diffusive reflector, which is superior to the commonly used Millipore paper and improved the detector performance by 35%. The inner surface of the two aerogel trays with higher refractive index is covered with Millipore paper, however, those two trays with lower aerogel refractive index are again covered with Gore diffusive reflector for higher performance. The measured mean number of photoelectrons in saturation is ~12 for n=1.030, ~8 for n=1.020, ~10 for n=1.015, and ~5.5 for n=1.011. Here the design details, the results of component characterization, and initial performance tests and optimization of the detector are presented.
Research Organization:
Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State, MS (United States); Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP) (SC-26)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-84ER40150; FG02-07ER41528
OSTI ID:
1330462
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1416761
OSTI ID: 22897064
OSTI ID: 1599637
Report Number(s):
DOE/OR/23177--3892; JLAB-PHY--16-2308; arXiv:1607.05264; PII: S0168900216310774
Journal Information:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Journal Name: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment Journal Issue: C Vol. 842; ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
diffusive reflectors
light yield
particle identification
silica aerogel
threshold Cherenkov detector