Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2020
Volume 65, Number 2
Saturday–Tuesday, April 18–21, 2020; Washington D.C.
Session L13: Instrumentation in Nuclear and Particle Physics IILive
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Sponsoring Units: DPF DNP Chair: Christine Nattrass, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Room: Maryland C |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 3:30PM - 3:42PM Live |
L13.00001: A Novel Set of Gas Electron Multiplier Detectors Sahara Jesmin Mohammed Prem Nazeer, Michael Kohl, Tanvi Patel, Ishara Fernando A set of Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors has been constructed using a novel GEM construction technique where all GEM layers are stretched and assembled mechanically within a double frame. The detectors are optimized for low material budget. The readout is based on APVs and MPDs. The key features allow them to be used flexibly in high-rate environments for low-energy charged particle tracking applications with high resolution. The detectors were originally designed for the DarkLight experiment, while using them in MUSE and ULQ2 has been considered, too. The construction and present status of the commissioning of the GEM detectors will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 3:42PM - 3:54PM Live |
L13.00002: Studies of Ion Backflow and Space Charge Build-up in Triple and Quadruple GEM Detectors Michael Reynolds, Sourav Tarafdar A Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) is a charged particle detector that in recent years has supplanted the multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC) as the standard in many particle physics experiments. GEM detectors operate on the principle of gas ionization thereby amplifying a small incident charge into a larger readout pulse. These freed electrons rush towards the GEM foil, which is perforated with thousands of microscopic holes. These holes contain a very strong electric field and further ionize the gas thus amplifying the number of electrons. These electrons are transferred to more GEM foils to be further amplified, reaching gains as high as 104. A byproduct of this process is ion backflow (IBF). Each freed electron leaves behind a positively charged gas molecule that drifts slowly towards the cathode as the lighter electrons rush to the anode for readout. Over time these heavier, slower moving ions build up in the gas volume creating an imbalance of charge that will distort the uniformity of the electric field. These effects need to be minimized in order to preserve accurate data. This project is testing 3 and 4 stage GEM detectors with an Ar:CO2 gas mixture, in either 70:30 or 80:20 ratio for these IBF studies, and using cosmic rays, x-rays, and Fe55 radiation sources. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 3:54PM - 4:06PM Live |
L13.00003: Commissioning and Characterization of the GEM based Proton Polarimeter Trackers in the Super Bigbite Spectrometer at JLAB Anuruddha Rathnayake The electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon are essential for our understanding of the structure of the nucleon. Precision measurements of nucleon form factors is an important part of the Jefferson Lab experimental program. The 12 $GeV$ beam upgrade of the Jefferson lab accelerator and the newly designed Super BigBite Spectrometer make possible a new generation of experiments to measure nucleon form factors with high precision at high $Q^2$ values to over 10 $GeV^2/c^2$. The concept of the Super BigBite Spectrometer, which provides a large solid angle and the capability to operate at high luminosity, relies on Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector based particle trackers. The SBS GEM chambers are expected to provide a good position resolution of $\sim$ 70 $\mu m$, while operating in high rate conditions up to 1 $MHz/cm^2$. A set of 44 GEM detector modules, each with an active area of 60x50 $cm^2$, has been built in the GEM detector lab at UVa for the proton polarimeter trackers of SBS. This talk will report on the commissioning of SBS polarimeter GEM tracker layers. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 4:06PM - 4:18PM Live |
L13.00004: Status and Performance of the ProtoDUNE Dual-Phase Detector: R{\&}D on Large Scale Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers Hector Carranza Neutrino oscillations opened the door to new physics beyond the Standard Model, introducing new theoretical quantities such as the neutrino mixing parameters, and the CP phase parameter between neutrino and anti-neutrino oscillations. Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs) have undertaken an important role to determine these parameters more accurately. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) far detector is looking to push the technology to an unprecedented level, with an active mass on the order of 40 kilotonnes. At the Neutrino Platform at CERN, there are two prototype detectors: ProtoDUNE Single-Phase (PDSP) and ProtoDUNE Dual-Phase (PDDP). The single-phase detector has all the detector components in liquid argon, including the electronics for readout. In PDSP, the ionization electrons drift horizontally. On the other hand, in the dual-phase version, the ionization electrons are drifted vertically upwards, extracted into the argon gas above the liquid, and amplified by large electron multipliers (LEMs) in front of the readout planes. In principle, this could allow for a lower detection threshold than in the single-phase. My talk consists of the general aspects of the Dual-Phase technology, as well as updates and plans on PDDP at CERN. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 4:18PM - 4:30PM Live |
L13.00005: Performance of Photon Detectors in ProtoDUNE Nilay Bostan In preparation for physics with DUNE, the ProtoDUNE detector has collected data at CERN with beam momentum of 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 GeV/c. Three types of photon-collecting methods are implemented in the single-phase module of ProtoDUNE; these modules (dip-coated light guides, double-shift light guides, and ARAPUCA) convert incident liquid argon scintillation photons into longer wavelengths to be recorded by SiPM detectors. ProtoDUNE data has been analyzed for its utility for physics analysis, including time and energy measurement and particle identification, by measuring the detection efficiency, stability, timing and energy resolution of the photon detectors. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 4:30PM - 4:42PM |
L13.00006: Identification of Electron Recoils in Gas Time Projection Chambers Majd Ghrear Directional detection of nuclear recoils is appealing because it can unambiguously demonstrate the cosmological origin of a dark matter signal and distinguish between different neutrino sources and dark matter signals. Directional recoil detection is possible using gas Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) where the ionization resulting from recoiling nuclei is imaged with high spatial granularity. A key challenge in low background detectors is the identification and rejection of background electron recoil events caused by radioactive contaminants in the materials used to construct the detector and the environment. Due to the excellent spatial resolution achieved by gas TPCs, we are able to define observables which can distinguish electron and nuclear recoils, even at keV-scale energies, based on the topology of the measured ionization. We demonstrate the electron rejection that can be achieved using different observables on simulated recoils. Furthermore, we investigate how well our observables tolerate diffusion of the ionization and how to use them simultaneously in order to maximize electron rejection. If possible, we will also present preliminary experimental results. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 4:42PM - 4:54PM |
L13.00007: Measuring the $^{235}$U(n,f)/$^{6}$Li(n,t) cross section ratio in the NIFFTE fissionTPC Maria Anastasiou While nuclear data play an important role in nuclear physics applications, it has become important to have a better understanding and try to minimize their uncertainties. In particular, there is a need for precision neutron-induced fission cross section measurements on fissile nuclei. Neutron-induced fission cross sections are typically measured as ratios, with a well-known standard in the denominator. While the $^{235}$U(n,f) standard is well measured, some light particle reactions are also well-known and their use as reference can provide information to remove shared systematic uncertainties that are present in an actinide-only ratio. The NIFFTE collaboration's fission time projection chamber (fissionTPC) is a 2$\times$2$\pi$ charged particle tracker designed for measuring neutron-induced fission. Detailed 3D track reconstruction of the reaction products enables evaluation of systematic effects and corresponding uncertainties which are less directly accessible by other measurement techniques. This talk focuses on the recent measurement of the $^{235}$U(n,f) using as a reference the standard $^{6}$Li(n,t) reaction. Preliminary data of the $^{235}$U(n,f)/$^{6}$Li(n,t) measurement deployed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 4:54PM - 5:06PM |
L13.00008: The Heavy Nuclei eXplorer (HNX) John W Mitchell The Heavy Nuclei eXplorer (HNX) will investigate the nature of the reservoirs of nuclei at the cosmic-ray sources, the mechanisms by which nuclei are removed from the reservoirs and injected into cosmic accelerators, and the acceleration mechanism. Current spacecraft accommodations and funding have required HNX to be reconfigured from its earlier conceptions. HNX will use two large high-precision instruments, the Extremely-heavy Cosmic-Ray Composition Observer (ECCO) and the Cosmic-Ray Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (CosmicTIGER), now flying on separate platforms, to measure, for the first time, the abundance of every individual element in the periodic table from carbon through the actinides, providing the first measurement of many of these elements. HNX will measure several thousand Ultra-Heavy Galactic Cosmic Ray (UHGCR) nuclei Z$\ge $30, including about 50 actinides, and will: determine whether GCR are accelerated from new or old material, and find their age; measure the mix of nucleosynthesis processes responsible for the UHGCRs; determine how UHGCR elements are selected for acceleration, and measure the mean integrated pathlength traversed by UHGCRs before observation. The scientific motivation and instrument complement of HNX will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 19, 2020 5:06PM - 5:18PM On Demand |
L13.00009: Designing and building a pair of scintillating bubble chambers for WIMPs and reactor CEvNS Rocco Coppejans, Matthew Bressler The Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC) is a rapidly developing new technology for 0.7 - 7 GeV nuclear recoil detection. Demonstrations in liquid xenon at the few-gram scale have confirmed that this technique combines the event-by-event energy resolution of a liquid-noble scintillation detector with the world-leading electron-recoil discrimination capability of the bubble chamber, and in fact maintains that discrimination capability at much lower thresholds than traditional Freon-based bubble chambers. The promise of unambiguous identification of sub-keV nuclear recoils in a scalable detector makes this an ideal technology for both GeV-mass WIMP searches and CEvNS detection at reactor sites. We will present progress from the SBC Collaboration towards the construction of a pair of 10-kg argon bubble chambers at Fermilab and SNOLAB to test the low-threshold performance of this technique in a physics-scale device and search for dark matter, respectively. [Preview Abstract] |
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