Table of contents

This paper describes the algorithms used by the CMS experiment to reconstruct and identify τ → hadrons + ν_τ decays during Run 1 of the LHC. The performance of the algorithms is studied in proton-proton collisions recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb⁻¹. The algorithms achieve an identification efficiency of 50–60%, with misidentification rates for quark and gluon jets, electrons, and muons between per mille and per cent levels.

To exploit the full potential of radio measurements of cosmic-ray air showers at MHz frequencies, a detector timing synchronization within 1 ns is needed. Large distributed radio detector arrays such as the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) rely on timing via the Global Positioning System (GPS) for the synchronization of individual detector station clocks. Unfortunately, GPS timing is expected to have an accuracy no better than about 5 ns. In practice, in particular in AERA, the GPS clocks exhibit drifts on the order of tens of ns. We developed a technique to correct for the GPS drifts, and an independent method is used to cross-check that indeed we reach a nanosecond-scale timing accuracy by this correction. First, we operate a ``beacon transmitter'' which emits defined sine waves detected by AERA antennas recorded within the physics data. The relative phasing of these sine waves can be used to correct for GPS clock drifts. In addition to this, we observe radio pulses emitted by commercial airplanes, the position of which we determine in real time from Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcasts intercepted with a software-defined radio. From the known source location and the measured arrival times of the pulses we determine relative timing offsets between radio detector stations. We demonstrate with a combined analysis that the two methods give a consistent timing calibration with an accuracy of 2 ns or better. Consequently, the beacon method alone can be used in the future to continuously determine and correct for GPS clock drifts in each individual event measured by AERA.

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and scintillators are often arranged in the shape of arrays in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) systems. Digital SiPMs provide signal readout in single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) level. From the photon count rate measurement of each SPAD cell of digital SiPM, we found that the output scintillating photons distribute in an area larger than the scintillator physical coupling area. Taking advantage of the possibility to enable/disable individual cells of the digital SiPM, a group of Lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystals with different dimensions coupled to a digital SiPM was used to study the influence of using different SiPM active area on the number of photons detected, energy resolution and coincidence time resolution (CTR). For the same crystal coupled to the digital SiPM, the larger the active area of digital SiPM, the higher the number of photons detected. The larger active area of the digital SiPM also results in a better energy resolution after saturation correction. The best energy resolution full width half maximum (FWHM) obtained for the 2 × 2 × 5 mm³, 2 × 2 × 10 mm³, 2 × 2 × 15 mm³, 2 × 2 × 20 mm³ LYSO crystals was 10.7%, 11.6%, 12.1%, 12.5%, respectively. For crystals with different cross sections coupled to the digital SiPM, we found that the larger the cross section of coupling area, the more photons were detected and thus a better energy resolution was obtained. The CTR of crystals fully wrapped with Teflon or without wrapping was measured by positioning two identical crystals facing each other. A larger area of digital SiPM improves the CTR and the CTR reaches the plateau when the active area is larger than 2.2 × 2.2 mm² with both two configurations of wrapping. The best CTR value for the 2 × 2 × 5 mm³, 2 × 2 × 10 mm³, 2 × 2 × 15 mm³, 2 × 2 × 20 mm³ LYSO crystals was 128.9 ps, 148.4 ps, 171.6 ps, 177.9 ps, respectively. The measurements performed lead us to conclude that optimising the coupling between crystal and SiPM to extract more scintillating photons can improve the energy resolution and CTR.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Thus, early diagnosis is of considerable importance. For early screening of lung cancer, computed tomography (CT) has been used as the gold standard. Chest digital tomosynthesis (CDT) is a recently introduced modality for lung cancer screening with a relatively low radiation dose compared to CT. The dual energy material decomposition method has been proposed for better detection of pulmonary nodules by means of reducing anatomical noise. In this study, the possibility of material decomposition in CDT was tested by both a simulation study and an experimental study using a CDT prototype. The Geant4 application for tomographic emission (GATE) v6 and tungsten anode spectral model using interpolating polynomials (TASMIP) codes were used for the simulation study to create simulated phantom shapes consisting of five inner cylinders filled with different densities of bone and airequivalent materials. Furthermore, the CDT prototype system and human phantom chest were used for the experimental study. CDT scan in both the simulation and experimental studies was performed with linear movement and 21 projection images were obtained over a 30 degree angular range with a 1.5 degree angular interval. To obtain materialselective images, a projectionbased energy subtraction technique was applied to high and low energy images. The resultant simulation images showed that dual-energy reconstruction could achieve an approximately 32% higher contrast to noise ratio (CNR) in images and the difference in CNR value according to bone density was significant compared to single energy CDT. Additionally, image artifacts were effectively corrected in dual energy CDT simulation studies. Likewise the experimental study with dual energy produced clear images of lung fields and bone structure by removing unnecessary anatomical structures. Dual energy tomosynthesis is a new technique; therefore, there is little guidance regarding its integration into clinical practice and this study can be used to improve the diagnostic efficiency of lung field and spinal bone screening using CDT.

The aim of this work is the characterization of the Pixirad-1 detector system with monochromatic synchrotron radiation at different energies. The linearity of the system has been investigated varying the impinging photon flux up to paralyzation. The ratio between detector counts and number of impinging photons, as a function of energy and discriminator thresholds, has been measured. The pixel noise has been evaluated and the result compared with the theoretical Poisson model. Eventually, the spatial resolution has been evaluated by measuring the line-spread function at different energies and discriminator thresholds.

Polarimetry with permille-level precision is essential for future electron-positron linear colliders. Compton polarimeters can reach negligible statistical uncertainties within seconds of measurement time. The dominating systematic uncertainties originate from the response and alignment of the detector which records the Compton scattered electrons. The robust baseline technology for the Compton polarimeters foreseen at future linear colliders is based on an array of gas Cherenkov detectors read out by photomultipliers. In this paper, we will present a calibration method which promises to monitor nonlinearities in the response of such a detector at the level of a few permille. This method has been implemented in an LED-based calibration system which matches the existing prototype detector. The performance of this calibration system is sufficient to control the corresponding contribution to the total uncertainty on the extracted polarisation to better than 0.1%.

Cryogenic liquids, particularly liquid xenon and argon, are of interest as detector media for experiments in nuclear and particle physics. Here we present a new detector diagnostic technique using piezoelectric sensors to detect bubbling of the liquid. Bubbling can indicate locations of excess heat dissipation e.g., in immersed electronics. They can also interfere with normal event evolution by scattering of light or by interrupting the drift of ionization charge. In our test apparatus, four sensors are placed in the vacuum space of a double-walled dewar of liquid nitrogen and used to detect and locate a source of bubbling inside the liquid volume. Utilizing the differences in transmitted frequencies through the different media present in the experiment, we find that sound traveling in a direct path from the source to the sensor can be isolated with appropriate filtering. The location of the source is then reconstructed using the time difference of arrivals (TDOA) information. The reconstruction algorithm is shown to have a 95.8% reproducibility rate and reconstructed positions are self-consistent to an average ±0.5 cm around the mean in x, y, and z. Systematic effects are observed to cause errors in reconstruction when bubbles occur very close to the surfaces of the liquid volume.

Blooming in a CCD occurs when the signal charges accumulating in a pixel exceed the pixel saturation level and spill over into adjacent pixels. They start to spill over the weakest threshold in the electric potential of the pixel structure resulting in a degradation of the spatial information. With antiblooming mechanisms, the spatial resolution of the incoming photons can be preserved, but the intensity information is lost in the overflowing pixels. For imaging experiments, relying on a precise image structure, the preservation of the spatial resolution at the expense of precise intensity information is a workable compromise. In contrast to insulated gate CCDs, notably MOSCCDs, the potential wells of the pixel array of a pnCCD are created by p+n junctions, allowing direct electric access to the pixel structure. This allows to directly drain off charges from the pixels and to define a drain level by applying the appropriate operation voltages. Charge packets from 1 000 to more than one billion signal electrons per readout frame were generated without observing a spillover into adjacent pixels. As soon as the saturation level of the pixel is reached, the excess charge carriers are removed through charge drains exclusively created with the modification of the electric potential of the pnCCD by the operation voltages. No additional antiblooming structures were implemented in the device and the pixel full well capacity of approximately 300 000 electrons in standard operation mode was preserved. A physical model of the antiblooming mechanism of pnCCDs with a pixel size of 75 μ m × 75 μ m was established by two-dimensional numerical device simulations and verified by experiments.

While designed primarily for X-ray imaging applications, the Medipix3 ASIC can also be used for charged-particle tracking. In this work, results from a beam test at the CERN SPS with irradiated and non-irradiated sensors are presented and shown to be in agreement with simulation, demonstrating the suitability of the Medipix3 ASIC as a tool for characterising pixel sensors.

State of the art detector readout electronics require high-throughput data acquisition (DAQ) systems. In many applications, e. g. for medical imaging, the front-end electronics are set up as separate modules in a distributed DAQ. A standardized interface between the modules and a central data unit is essential. The requirements on such an interface are varied, but demand almost always a high throughput of data. Beyond this challenge, a Gigabit Ethernet interface is predestined for the broad requirements of Systems-on-a-Chip (SoC) up to large-scale DAQ systems. We have implemented an embedded protocol stack for a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) capable of high-throughput data transmission and clock synchronization. A versatile stack architecture for the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) over Internet Protocol (IP) such as Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) as well as Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is presented. With a point-to-point connection to a host in a MicroTCA system we achieved the theoretical maximum data throughput limited by UDP both for 1000BASE-T and 1000BASE-KX links. Furthermore, we show that the random jitter of a synchronous clock over a 1000BASE-T link for a PTP application is below 60 ps.

Proportional counters filled with tissue equivalent gas mixtures are extremely useful instruments and are being used extensively as sensitive detectors for all types of radiations to measure the energy transferred to small tissue volumes. The linearity of their response is of primary importance. So the investigation and clarification of the physical phenomena taking place in the counter and of the limits within which useful results may be obtained would contribute to a more efficient use and a wider application of these counters. The measured gas gain curves have been fitted to the Diethorn and Williams & Sara gas gain models. The models parameters and their dependence on gas pressure have been determined. It was shown that reduced ionization coefficient α/p is not univocal function of the reduced electric field strength E_FS/p.

Monte Carlo simulations of heat deposition and neutron production have been carried out for the low power beam dump-cum-target for the 20 MeV Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA) facility at BARC using GEANT4 and FLUKA. Thermal analysis and heat transfer calculations have also been carried out using the computational fluid dynamics code CFD ACE+. In this work we present the details of the analysis of the low power beam dump-cum-target designed for conditioning of the accelerator upto a maximum power of 600 kW with a duty cycle of 2% which corresponds to an average power of 12 kW in the first phase.

Semiconductor detector readout chips with pulse processing electronics have made possible spectroscopic X-ray imaging, bringing an improvement in the overall image quality and, in the case of medical imaging, a reduction in the X-ray dose delivered to the patient. In this contribution we review the state of the art in semiconductor-detector readout ASICs for spectroscopic X-ray imaging with emphasis on hybrid pixel detector technology. We discuss how some of the key challenges of the technology (such as dealing with high fluxes, maintaining spectral fidelity, power consumption density) are addressed by the various ASICs. In order to understand the fundamental limits of the technology, the physics of the interaction of radiation with the semiconductor detector and the process of signal induction in the input electrodes of the readout circuit are described. Simulations of the process of signal induction are presented that reveal the importance of making use of the small pixel effect to minimize the impact of the slow motion of holes and hole trapping in the induced signal in high-Z sensor materials. This can contribute to preserve fidelity in the measured spectrum with relatively short values of the shaper peaking time. Simulations also show, on the other hand, the distortion in the energy spectrum due to charge sharing and fluorescence photons when the pixel pitch is decreased. However, using recent measurements from the Medipix3 ASIC, we demonstrate that the spectroscopic information contained in the incoming photon beam can be recovered by the implementation in hardware of an algorithm whereby the signal from a single photon is reconstructed and allocated to the pixel with the largest deposition.

We present the development of a segmented fast neutron spectrometer (FaNS-2) based upon plastic scintillator and ³He proportional counters. It was designed to measure both the flux and spectrum of fast neutrons in the energy range of few MeV to 1 GeV. FaNS-2 utilizes capture-gated spectroscopy to identify neutron events and reject backgrounds. Neutrons deposit energy in the plastic scintillator before capturing on a ³He nucleus in the proportional counters. Segmentation improves neutron energy reconstruction while the large volume of scintillator increases sensitivity to low neutron fluxes. A main goal of its design is to study comparatively low neutron fluxes, such as cosmogenic neutrons at the Earth's surface, in an underground environment, or from low-activity neutron sources. In this paper, we present details of its design and construction as well as its characterization with a calibrated ²⁵²Cf source and monoenergetic neutron fields of 2.5 MeV and 14 MeV. Detected monoenergetic neutron spectra are unfolded using a Singular Value Decomposition method, demonstrating a 5% energy resolution at 14 MeV. Finally, we discuss plans for measuring the surface and underground cosmogenic neutron spectra with FaNS-2.

We present the results of the first in-beam studies of a medium size (10 × 10 cm ² ) Resistive-Plate WELL (RPWELL): a single-sided THGEM coupled to a pad anode through a resistive layer of high bulk resistivity (∼10⁹ Ωcm). The 6.2 mm thick (excluding readout electronics) single-stage detector was studied with 150 GeV muons and pions. Signals were recorded from 1×1 cm ²square copper pads with APV25-SRS readout electronics. The single-element detector was operated in Ne/(5%CH₄) at a gas gain of a few times 10⁴ , reaching 99% detection efficiency at average pad multiplicity of ∼1.2. Operation at particle fluxes up to ∼10⁴Hz/cm ²resulted in ∼23% gain drop leading to ∼5% efficiency loss. The striking feature was the discharge-free operation, also in intense pion beams. These results pave the way towards robust, efficient large-scale detectors for applications requiring economic solutions at moderate spatial and energy resolutions.

Advanced imaging optics techniques have significantly improved the performance of millimeter-wave imaging diagnostics, such as Electron Cyclotron Emission imaging and Microwave Imaging of Reflectometry. The fundamental functions of millimeter-wave imaging optics are focusing, collecting the emission or reflected microwave signal from the target area in the plasma and focusing the emitted (reflected) signal on the detector array. The location of the observation area can be changed using the focus lens. Another important function of the imaging optics is zooming. The size of the observation area in poloidal direction can be adjusted by the zoom lenses and the poloidal spatial resolution is determined by the level of zoom. The field curvature adjustment lenses are employed to adjust the shape of the image plane in the poloidal direction to reduce crosstalk between neighboring channels. The incident angle on each channel is controlled using the specific surface type of the front-side lenses to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. All functions are decoupled with the minimum number of lenses. Successful applications are given.

In Ne − CO₂ mixtures, excitation energy of Ne atom can be used to ionize CO₂ molecule by the mechanisms called Penning transfers. In the present work, we have measured the gas gain systematically in various Ne − CO₂ mixtures (Ne + 0.6 − 60% CO₂) at 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.8 atm. The experimental data have been fitted to investigate the Penning energy transfer rates and the secondary processes playing a role in avalanche formations.

In this paper, we introduce the bunch compressor of low emittance Iranian Light Source Facility (ILSF) pre-injection system and discuss on its expected performance by particle tracking. The design and fabrication procedures of the alpha magnet as the main bunch compression component is described. The outcome bunches from the RF electron gun are shortened to 900 fs by the alpha magnet operating at 224 G/cm. The energy spread and total charge of each compressed bunch are 10% and 100 pC respectively. For the electron bunches with low energy spread, less than 1%, further bunch compression is done by the velocity bunching through the first Linac tube. Regardless of the space charge effect and for the case of 98% filtering of the lowest energy electrons with the energy slit inside the alpha magnet, the outcome bunch from the RF gun is firstly compressed to 100 fs by the alpha magnet operating the optimized gradient and then to 30 fs by the first Linac tube. The bunch length will grow to 160 fs after the alpha magnet and to 90 fs after the first Linac tube when the space charge forces are taken into account.

The LHCb detector is due to be upgraded for processing high-luminosity collisions, which will increase data bandwidth to the event filter farm from 100 GB/s to 4 TB/s, encouraging us to look for new ways of accelerating Online reconstruction. The Coprocessor Manager is a new framework for integrating LHCb's existing computation pipelines with massively parallel algorithms running on GPUs and other accelerators. This paper describes the system and analyzes its performance.

The CMS Beam Radiation Instrumentation and Luminosity (BRIL) project is composed of several systems providing the experiment protection from adverse beam conditions while also measuring the online luminosity and beam background. Although the readout bandwidth of the Fast Beam Conditions Monitoring system (BCM1F—one of the faster monitoring systems of the CMS BRIL), was sufficient for the initial LHC conditions, the foreseen enhancement of the beams parameters after the LHC Long Shutdown-1 (LS1) imposed the upgrade of the system. This paper presents the new BCM1F, which is designed to provide real-time fast diagnosis of beam conditions and instantaneous luminosity with readout able to resolve the 25 ns bunch structure.

The Belle II Silicon Vertex Detector comprises four layers of double-sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs), consisting of ladders with two to five sensors each. All sensors are individually read out by APV25 chips with the Origami chip-on-sensor concept for the central DSSDs of the ladders. The chips sit on flexible circuits that are glued on the top of the sensors. This concept allows a low material budget and an efficient cooling of the chips by a single pipe per ladder. We present the construction of the first SVD ladders and results from precision measurements and electrical tests.

A low-noise analog readout channel optimized for operation with the Silicon Drift Detectors (SDDs) with built-in JFET is presented. The Charge Sensitive Amplifier (CSA) operates in a pulse reset mode using the reset diode built-in the SDD detector. The shaper is a 6^th order semi-Gaussian filter with switchable discrete shaping times. The readout channel provides the Equivalent Noise Charge (ENC) of 12e- (simulation) and input dynamic range of 30 keV . The measured energy resolution at the 5,89 keV line of a ⁵⁵Fe X-ray source is 336 eV (FWHM). The channel was prototyped via Europractice in the AMS 350 nm process as miniASIC. The simulation and first measurement results are presented in the paper.

Ultimate development in computed tomography (CT) technology may be a system that can provide images with excellent lesion conspicuity with the patient dose as low as possible. Imaging simulation tools have been cost-effectively used for these developments and will continue. For a more accurate and realistic imaging simulation, the signal and noise propagation through a CT detector system has been modeled in this study using the cascaded linear-systems theory. The simulation results are validated in comparisons with the measured results using a laboratory flat-panel micro-CT system. Although the image noise obtained from the simulations at higher exposures is slightly smaller than that obtained from the measurements, the difference between them is reasonably acceptable. According to the simulation results for various exposure levels and additive electronic noise levels, x-ray quantum noise is more dominant than the additive electronic noise. The framework of modeling a CT detector system suggested in this study will be helpful for the development of an accurate and realistic projection simulation model.

The measurement results of the front-end ASIC for the GEM detector read-out are presented. The MUCH ASIC v2 was designed and prototyped via Europractice by means of the 0.18 um CMOS MMRF process of UMC (Taiwan). The parameters of the analog channels, including the CSA, fast and slow shapers, discriminators, were measured. The channels provide a sufficient dynamic range of 100 fC, low power consumption of 10 mW per channel and ENC of 1550 el at a 50 pF detector capacitance.

The New Small Wheel Upgrade for the ATLAS experiment will replace the innermost station of the Muon Spectrometer in the forward region in order to maintain its current performance during high luminosity data-taking after the LHC Phase-I upgrade. The New Small Wheel, comprising Micromegas and small Thin Gap Chambers, will reduce the rate of fake triggers coming from backgrounds in the forward region and significantly improve the Level-1 muon trigger selectivity by providing precise on-line segment measurements with ∼ 1 mrad angular resolution. Such demanding precision, together with the short time (∼ 1 μs) to prepare trigger data and perform on-line reconstruction, implies very stringent requirements on the design of trigger system and trigger electronics. This paper presents an overview of the design of the New Small Wheel trigger system, trigger algorithms and processor hardware.

The accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station in 2011 has caused profound effects on energy policies in Japan and worldwide. This is particularly because it occurred at the time of the growing awareness of global warming forcing measures towards decarbonised energy production, namely the use of fossil fuels has to be drastically reduced from the present level of more than 80% by 2050. A dilemma has now emerged because nuclear power, a CO₂-free technology with proven large-scale energy production capability, lost confidence in many societies, especially in Japan and Germany. As a consequence, there is a world-wide effort now to expand renewable energies (REs), specifically photo-voltaic (PV) and wind power. However, the authors conjecture that PV and wind power can provide only up to a 40% share of the electricity production as long as sufficient storage is not available. Beyond this level, the technological (high grid power) and economic problems (large surplus production) grow. This is the result of the analysis of the growing use of REs in the electricity systems for Germany and Japan. The key element to overcome this situation is to develop suitable energy storage technologies. This is particularly necessary when electricity will become the main energy source because also transportation, process heat and heating, will be supplied by it. Facing the difficulty in replacing all fossil fuels in all countries with different technology standards, a rapid development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) might also be necessary. Therefore, for the short-range strategy up to 2050, all meaningful options have to be developed. For the long-range strategy beyond 2050, new energy sources (such as thermonuclear fusion, solar fuels and nuclear power—if inherently safe concepts will gain credibility of societies again), and large-scale energy storage systems based on novel concepts (such as large-capacity batteries and hydrogen) is required. It is acknowledged that the prediction of the future is difficult; therefore, the only insurance in this situation is by intensified research into all viable options.

The upgrade of the CMS tracker at the HL-LHC relies on hybrid modules built on high density interconnecting flexible circuits. They contain several flip chip readout ASICs having high speed digital ports required for configuration and data readout, implemented as customized Scalable Low-Voltage Signalling (SLVS) differential pairs. This paper presents the connectivity requirements on the CMS tracker hybrids; it compares several transmission line implementations in terms of board area, achievable impedances and expected crosstalk. The properties obtained by means of simulations are compared with measurements made on a dedicated test circuit. The different transmission line implementations are also tested using a custom 65nm SLVS driver and receiver prototype ASIC.

Detection of scintillation light can play several important roles in LArTPCs. Increased collection efficiency could result in the improvement of time, energy, and position resolution. The SBND collaboration is developing detailed MC simulations to study the performance of different types of light systems in the LArSoft framework. Due to the vast number of photons typically produced in neutrino physics events, a full optical simulation becomes extremely hard to run on reasonable time scales. I will describe how the SBND simulation tackles these problems and its current status for two of the light detection systems considered by SBND: (i) a traditional TPB-coated PMT based system and (ii) a system based on TPB-coated reflector foils to increase collection efficiency without increasing the number of photodetectors.

We have built a sputter erosion sensor using Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) for validating the numerical analysis tool called ``JIEDI tool''. In this paper, we measured the velocity distribution function of the aluminum atoms sputtered from an aluminum acceleration grid of the ion thruster. The experimentally obtained aluminum velocity distribution have been found to be compatible with those calculated by the numerical analysis method.

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) together with the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) hosted at the Fermilab will provide a unique, world-leading program for the exploration of key questions at the forefront of neutrino physics and astrophysics. CP violation in neutrino flavor mixing is one of its most important potential discoveries. Additionally, the experiment will determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and precisely measure the neutrino mixing parameters which may potentially reveal new fundamental symmetries of nature. Moreover, the DUNE is also designed for the observation of nucleon decay and supernova burst neutrinos. The photon detection (PD) system in the DUNE far detector provides trigger for cosmic backgrounds, enhances supernova burst trigger efficiency and improves the energy resolution of the detector. The DUNE adopts the technology of liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) that requires the PD sensors, silicon photomultipliers (SiPM), to be carefully chosen to not only work properly in LAr temperature, but also meet certain specifications for the life of the experiment. A comprehensive testing of SiPMs in cryostat is necessary since the datasheet provided by the manufactures in the market does not cover this temperature regime. This paper gives the detailed characterization results of SenSL C-Series 60035 SiPMs, including gain, dark count rate (DCR), cross-talk and after-pulse rate. Characteristic studies on SiPMs from other vendors are also discussed in order to avoid any potential problems associated with using a single source. Moreover, the results of the ongoing mechanical durability tests are shown for the current candidate, SenSL B/C-Series 60035 SiPMs.

A typical Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (G-APD) contains a guard ring that protects the structure from having an edge breakdown due to the lowering of electric fields at junction curvatures. In this contribution, G-APDs with a virtual guard ring (vGR) merged with n-type diffused guard ring (nGR) in various sizes were studied to find the optimal design for G-APDs fabricated at National NanoFab Center (NNFC) . The sensors were fabricated via a customized CMOS process with a micro-cell size of 65× 65 μm² on a 200 mm p-type epitaxial layer wafer. I-V characteristic curves for proposed structures were measured on a wafer-level with an auto probing system and plotted together to compare their performance. A vGR width of 1.5 μm and a nGR width of 1.5 μm with an overlapping between vGR and nGR of 1.5 μm showed the lowest leakage current before the breakdown voltage while suppressing the edge breakdown. Furthermore, the current level of the lowest-leakage-current structure was as low as that of only vGR with a width of 2.0 μm, indicating that the structure is also area efficient. Based on these results, the design with vGR, nGR, and OL with width of 1.5 μm is determined to be the optimal structure for G-APDs fabricated at NNFC.

In this work we fabricated detectors based on semi-insulating GaAs and studied their electrical properties (current-voltage characteristics, galvanomagnetic measurements) after irradiation with 5 MeV electrons from a linear accelerator up to a dose of 104 kGy. A series of detectors were prepared using Ti/Pt/Au Schottky contact with 1 mm diameter. The thickness of the base material was about 230 μm. A whole area Ni/AuGe/Au ohmic contact was evaporated on the back side. For galvanomagnetic measurements we used three samples from the same wafer. All samples were irradiated by a pulse beam of 5 MeV electrons using the linear accelerator in 11 steps, where the accumulative dose increased from 1 kGy up to 104 kGy. Also different dose rates (20, 40 and 80 kGy/h) were applied to the samples. After each irradiation step we performed electrical measurement of each sample. We analyze the electron Hall mobility, resistivity, electron Hall concentration, breakdown voltage and reverse current of samples before and after irradiation using different dose rates.

The 24th of August 2014, the EUSO-Balloon instrument went for a night flight for several hours, 40 km above Timmins (Canada) balloon launching site, concretizing the hard work of an important part of the JEM-EUSO collaboration started 3 years before. This instrument consists of a telescope made of two lenses and a complex electronic chain divided in two main sub-systems: the PDM (Photo Detector Module) and the DP (Data Processor). Each of them is made of several innovative elements developed and tested in a short time. This paper presents their performances before and during the flight.

This paper describes the latest, full-functionality revision of the high-speed data link board developed for the Phase-2 upgrade of ATLAS hadronic Tile Calorimeter. The link board design is highly redundant, with digital functionality implemented in two Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGAs, and two Molex QSFP+ electro-optic modules with uplinks run at 10 Gbps. The FPGAs are remotely configured through two radiation-hard CERN GBTx deserialisers (GBTx), which also provide the LHC-synchronous system clock. The redundant design eliminates virtually all single-point error modes, and a combination of triple-mode redundancy (TMR), internal and external scrubbing will provide adequate protection against radiation-induced errors. The small portion of the FPGA design that cannot be protected by TMR will be the dominant source of radiation-induced errors, even if that area is small.

State-of-the-art hybrid pixel semiconductor detectors provide excellent imaging properties such as unlimited dynamic range, high spatial resolution, high frame rate and energy sensitivity. Nevertheless, a limitation in the use of these devices for imaging has been the small sensitive area of a few square centimetres. In the field of microtomography we make use of a large area pixel detector assembled from 50 Timepix edgeless chips providing fully sensitive area of 14.3 × 7.15 cm². We have successfully demonstrated that the enlargement of the sensitive area enables high-quality tomographic measurements of whole objects with high geometrical magnification without any significant degradation in resulting reconstructions related to the chip tilling and edgeless sensor technology properties. The technique of micro-tomography with the newly developed large area detector is applied for samples formed by low attenuation, low contrast materials such a seed from Phacelia tanacetifolia, a charcoalified wood sample and a beeswax seal sample.

Turbulence measurement is important in the study of plasma confinement. We developed a multi-channel correlation electron cyclotron emission (cECE) radiometer system, using an existing conventional ECE radiometer system (RADH) on a large helical device (LHD) . The signal received by the RADH was split and fed to our cECE system, and then electron temperatures at three separate radial positions were measured by resolving frequency component with three narrow (200 MHz) band-pass filters. Data taken by the cECE system were compared with those taken by the RADH system. Turbulence-like signals below 10 kHz were detected by the cECE measurement using coherence analysis, but were not detected by RADH measurement. We considered this to be due to differences in the radial separation length between the two channels and in the radial measurement depth of each channel. The cECE system was able to detect higher frequency turbulence because its separation length and measurement depth in the radial direction was shorter than the correlation length of the turbulence.

Polarimetric Thomson scattering (TS) is a novel diagnostic technique proposed as an alternative to conventional (spectral) TS, for the measurement of the electron temperature T_e and density n_e in very hot fusion plasmas. Contrary to spectral TS, which is based on the reconstruction of the Doppler broadened frequency spectrum, in polarimetric TS T_e is determined from the depolarization of the scattered radiation. The technique is suitable for ITER, where it is expected to be competitive with conventional spectral TS for measurements in the highest T_e range, specially in backward-like conditions with the scattering angle 90° ≪ θ ⩽ 180°. In this paper we consider a hypothetical polarimetric TS diagnostic for ITER and evaluate its performance for the θ = 145° scattering condition typical of the core TS system and also for a different scattering geometry in which, using a tangential laser beam, the central region of the ITER plasma can be observed under a scattering angle θ ∼ 75°. In both cases we calculate the expected errors on the measured T_e and n_e that can be obtained with a simple, two-channel polarimeter, and taking into account that only a fraction of the TS wavelength spectrum is detected. In both cases the expected performances are compared with those of the conventional spectral core TS diagnostic to determine the plasma conditions in which the polarimetric technique is more advantageous. A measurement of the depolarization effect of the TS radiation using the JET High Resolution TS system of JET is also discussed.

The NA62 experiment [1] at the CERN SPS (Super Proton Synchrotron) accelerator studies the ultra-rare decays of charged kaons. The high-resolution Liquid Krypton (LKr) electromagnetic calorimeter of the former NA48 experiment [2] is a key component of the experiment photon-veto system. The new LKr readout system comprises 14,000 14-bit ADC acquisition channels, 432× 1 Gbit Ethernet data request and readout links routed by 28× 10 Gbit network switches to the experiment computer farm, and timing, trigger and control (TTC) distribution system. This paper presents the architecture of the LKr readout and TTC systems, the overall performance and the first successfully collected experiment physics data.

The simulation and verification framework developed by the RD53 collaboration is a powerful tool for global architecture optimization and design verification of next generation hybrid pixel readout chips. In this paper the framework is used for studying digital pixel chip architectures at behavioral level. This is carried out by simulating a dedicated, highly parameterized pixel chip description, which makes it possible to investigate different grouping strategies between pixels and different latency buffering and arbitration schemes. The pixel hit information used as simulation input can be either generated internally in the framework or imported from external Monte Carlo detector simulation data. The latter have been provided by both the CMS and ATLAS experiments, featuring HL-LHC operating conditions and the specifications related to the Phase 2 upgrade. Pixel regions and double columns were simulated using such Monte Carlo data as inputs: the performance of different latency buffering architectures was compared and the compliance of different link speeds with the expected column data rate was verified.

Scanning x-ray beam imaging systems were first developed by American Science and Engineering, Inc. (AS&E) in the early 1970s [1]. Since then, these systems have found a wide range of applications in security inspection and non-destructive testing. Large-area detectors are most frequently used to collect backscattered radiation but smaller transmission detectors are also employed for selected applications. Until recently, only two basic detector designs have been used: large scintillator blocks with attached photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) or large-volume light-sealed boxes, lined with scintillating screens and port windows for PMTs. In both cases, the detectors have required considerable depth to provide acceptable light collection efficiency. A new design recently developed by AS&E relies on wavelength shifting fibres (WSF) for light collection. For the first time, this approach enables the construction of thin large-area detectors. Stacking layers of WSF ribbons and scintillating screens in varying combinations enables optimization of the detection efficiency for different applications. Taking separate readings from different layers provides an energy-sensitive signal combination. Energy sensitivity can be improved further by adding filtration between the signal channels. Several prototype configurations have been built and characterized for both backscatter and transmission imaging. A WSF-based detector has been commercialized for a transmission x-ray imaging application.

We present a new method of an in-pixel threshold dispersion correction implemented in a prototype readout integrated circuit (IC) operating in a single photon counting mode. The new threshold correction method was implemented in a readout IC of area 9.6× 14.9 mm² containing 23552 square pixels with the pitch of 75 μm designed and fabricated in CMOS 130 nm technology. Each pixel of the IC consists of a charge sensitive amplifier, a shaper, two discriminators, two 14-bit counters and a low-area trim DACs for threshold correction. The user can either control the range of the trim DAC globally for all the pixels in the integrated circuit or modify the trim DACs characteristics locally in each pixel independently. Using a simulation tool based on the Monte-Carlo methods, we estimated how much we could improve the offset trimming by increasing the number of bits in the trim DACs or implementing additional bits in a pixel to modify the characteristics of the trim DACs. The measurements of our IC prototype show that it is possible to reduce the effective threshold dispersion in large-area single-photon counting chips below 10 electrons rms.

This work presents the 600 MHz clock multiplier PLL and the pseudo-LVDS driver which are two essential components of the Data Transmission Unit (DTU), a fast serial link for the 1.2 Gb/s data transmission of the ALICE inner detector front-end chip (ALPIDE). The PLL multiplies the 40 MHz input clock in order to obtain the 600 MHz and the 200 MHz clock for a fast serializer which works in Double Data Rate mode. The outputs of the serializer feed the pseudo-LVDS driver inputs which transmits the data from the pixel chip to the patch panel with a limited number of signal lines. The driver drives a 5.3 m-6.5 m long differential transmission line by steering a maximum of 5 mA of current at the target speed. To overcome bandwidth limitations coming from the long cables the pre-emphasis can be applied to the output. Currents for the main and pre-emphasis driver can individually be adjusted using on-chip digital-to-analog converters. The circuits will be integrated in the pixel chip and are designed in the same 0.18 μm CMOS technology and will operate from the same 1.8 V supply. Design and test results of both circuits are presented.

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography(SPECT) is a widely used diagnosis modality for detecting metabolic diseases. In general, SPECT system is consisted of a sensor, a pre-amplifier, position decoding circuits(PDC) and a data acquisition(DAQ) system. Due to such complexity, it is quite costly to assemble SPECT system by putting discrete components together. Moreover, using discrete components would make the system rather bulky. In this work, we designed a channel module ASIC for SPECT system. This system was composed of a transimpedance amplifier(TIA), comparators and digital logics. In this particular module, a TIA was selected as a preamplifier because the decay time and the rise time are shorter than that of other preamplifier topologies. In the proposed module, the amplified pulse from the TIA was split into two separate signals and each signal was then fed into two comparators with different reference levels, e.g., a low and high level. Then an XOR gate combined the comparator outputs and the output of XOR gate was sent to the suceeding digital logic. Furthermore, the output of each component in the module is composed of a signal packet. The packet includes the information on the energy, the time and the position of the incident photon. The energy and position information of a detected radiation can be derived from the output of the D-flipflop(DFF) in the module via time-over-threshold(TOT). The timing information was measured using a delayed rising edge from the low-level referenced comparator. There are several advantages in developing the channel module ASIC. First of all, the ASIC has only digital outputs and thus a correction circuit for analog signal distortion can be neglected. In addition, it is possible to cut down the system production cost because the volume of the system can be reduced due to the compactness of ASIC. The benefits of channel module is not only limited to SPECT but also beneficial to many other radiation detecting systems.

FAZIA is a multidetector specifically designed to optimize A and Z reaction product identification in heavy-ion collision experiments. This multidetector is modular and based on three-layer telescopes made of two silicon detectors followed by a thick (10 cm) CsI(Tl) scintillator read-out by a photodiode. Its electronics is fully digital. The goal to push at maximum identification capability while preserving excellent energy resolution, can be achieved by using pulse-shape analysis techniques and by making an intensive use of high-speed flash ADCs. This paper presents the front-end part of the electronics.

New pixel detector concepts, based on commercial high voltage and/or high resistivity CMOS processes, are being investigated as a possible candidate to the inner and outer layers of the ATLAS Inner Tracker in the HL-LHC upgrade. A depleted monolithic active pixel sensor on thick film SOI technology is being extensively investigated for that purpose. This particular technology provides a double well structure, which shields the thin gate oxide transistors from the Buried Oxide (BOX). In addition, the distance between transistors and BOX is one order of magnitude bigger than conventional SOI technologies, making the technology promising against its main limitations, as radiation hardness or back gate effects. Its radiation hardness to Total Ionizing Dose (TID) and the absence of back gate effect up to 700 Mrad has been measured and published [1]. The process allows the use of high voltages (up to 300V) which are used to partially deplete the substrate. The process allows fabrication in higher resistivity, therefore a fully depleted substrate could be achieved after thinning. This article shows the results on charge collection properties of the silicon bulk below the BOX by different techniques, in a laboratory with radioactive sources and by edge Transient Current Technique, for unirradiated and irradiated samples.

A Liquid-argon Trigger Digitizer Board (LTDB) is being developed to upgrade the ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeter Phase-I trigger electronics. The LTDB located at the front end needs to obtain the clock signals and be configured and monitored remotely from the back end. A clock and control system is being developed for the LTDB and the major functions of the system have been evaluated. The design and evaluation of the clock and control system are presented in this paper.

Nuclear medicine imaging devices commonly use multi-element photo detection systems, composed of an array of N × N elements, each one providing an individual signal. Many strategies have been developed to reduce the number of readout channels, one of the main approaches is the Rows and Columns (R/C) projection logic. In this paper we proposed a modified version of Raised To the Power (RTP) algorithm adapted to R/C logic. In order to validate its efficiency a linear scanning irradiation on two 49× 49 mm² LaBr₃:Ce (0.5%) crystals with different thickness (4 mm and 10 mm) was carried out. Imaging performance analysis was made in terms of position linearity, Field-of-View (FoV) enlargement and spatial resolution. Imaging results from Anger Logic, RTP algorithm based on single element readout and RTP algorithm based on R/C readout were compared. A notable advantage of using RTP algorithms instead of Anger Logic was found: the FoV widens from about 30% to more than 70% of the detector area whereas the spatial resolution is highly improved, especially for off-center interactions, both for 4 mm-thick and 10 mm-thick crystals. Furthermore, imaging performance with the R/C readout is just slightly different from the single element one (FoV reduction less than 7% and SR worsening less than 10%). The R/C adapted RTP algorithm opens doors to high imaging performance with a substantial reduction of complexity and cost in the readout electronics.

We present three hardware solutions designed for a detector module built with a 2 cm × 2 cm hybrid pixel detector built from a single 320 or 450 μ m thick silicon sensor designed and fabricated by Hamamatsu and two UFXC32k readout integrated circuits (128 × 256 pixels with 75μ m pitch, designed in CMOS 130 nm at AGH-UST). The chips work in a single photon counting mode and provide ultra-fast X-ray imaging. The presented hardware modules are designed according to requirements of various tests and applications:

⋅Device A: a fast and flexible system for tests with various radiation sources.

⋅Device B: a standalone, all-in-one imaging device providing three standard interfaces (USB 2.0, Ethernet, Camera Link) and up to 640 MB/s bandwidth.

⋅Device C: a prototype large-area imaging system. The paper shows the readout system structure for each case with highlighted circuit board designs with details on power distribution and cooling on both FR4 and LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramic) based circuits.

The ATLAS muon Cathode Strip Chamber (CSC) backend readout system has been upgraded during the LHC 2013-2015 shutdown to be able to handle the higher Level-1 trigger rate of 100 kHz and the higher occupancy at Run-2 luminosity. The readout design is based on the Reconfigurable Cluster Element (RCE) concept for high bandwidth generic DAQ implemented on the Advanced Telecommunication Computing Architecture (ATCA) platform. The RCE design is based on the new System on Chip XILINX ZYNQ series with a processor-centric architecture with ARM processor embedded in FPGA fabric and high speed I/O resources. Together with auxiliary memories, all these components form a versatile DAQ building block that can host applications tapping into both software and firmware resources. The Cluster on Board (COB) ATCA carrier hosts RCE mezzanines and an embedded Fulcrum network switch to form an online DAQ processing cluster. More compact firmware solutions on the ZYNQ for high speed input and output fiberoptic links and TTC allowed the full system of 320 input links from the 32 chambers to be processed by 6 COBs in one ATCA shelf. The full system was installed in September 2014. We will present the RCE/COB design concept, the firmware and software processing architecture, and the experience from the intense commissioning for LHC Run 2.

The NeuroBayes machine learning algorithm is deployed for online data reduction at the pixel detector of Belle II. In order to test, characterize and easily adapt its implementation on FPGAs, a framework was developed. Within the framework an HDL model, written in python using MyHDL, is used for fast exploration of possible configurations. Under usage of input data from physics simulations figures of merit like throughput, accuracy and resource demand of the implementation are evaluated in a fast and flexible way. Functional validation is supported by usage of unit tests and HDL simulation for chosen configurations.

The Adaptive Gain Integrating Pixel Detector (AGIPD) is a hybrid pixel X-ray detector for the European-XFEL. One of the detector's important parts is the radiation tolerant front end ASIC fulfilling the European-XFEL requirements: high dynamic range—from sensitivity to single 12.5keV-photons up to 10⁴ photons. It is implemented using the dynamic gain switching technique with three possible gains of the charge sensitive preamplifier. Each pixel can store up to 352 images in memory operated in random-access mode at ⩾4.5 MHz frame rate. An external vetoing may be applied to overwrite unwanted frames.

The silicon pixel detector of the CMS experiment at CERN will be replaced with an upgraded version at the beginning of 2017 with the new detector featuring an additional barrel- and end-cap layer resulting in an increased number of fully digital read-out links running at 400 Mbps. New versions of the PSI46 Read-Out Chip and Token Bit Manager have been developed to operate at higher rates and reduce data loss. Front-End Controller and Front-End Driver boards, based on the μTCA compatible CMS Tracker AMC, a variant of the FC7 card, are being developed using different mezzanines to host the optical links for the digital read-out and control system. An overview of the system architecture is presented, with details on the implementation, and first results obtained from test systems.

For new detector and trigger systems to be installed in the ATLAS experiment after LHC Run 2, a new approach will be followed for Front-End electronics interfacing. The FELIX (Front-End LInk eXchange) system will function as gateway connecting: on one side to detector and trigger electronics links, as well as providing timing and trigger information; and on the other side a commodity switched network built using standard technology (either Ethernet or Infiniband). The new approach is described in this paper, and results achieved so far are presented.

A readout ASIC for the hybrid pixel detector with the capability of performing quick recognition of particles with high transverse momentum has been designed for the requirements of the CMS Outer Tracker at the High Luminosity LHC . The particle momentum dicrimination capability represents the main challenge for this design together with the low power requirement: the constraint of low mass for the new tracker dictates a total power budget of less than 100 mW/cm². The choice of a 65 nm CMOS technology has made it possible to satisfy this power requirement despite the fairly large amount of logic necessary to perform the momentum discrimination and the continuous operation at 40 MHz. Several techniques for low power have been used to implement this logic that performs cluster reduction, position offset correction and coordinate encoding. A prototype chip including a large part of the final functionality and the full front-end has been realized and comprises a matrix of 16 by 3 rectangular pixels of 100 μm × 1446 μm, providing 7.65 mm² of segmented active area. Measurements of the analog front-end characteristics closely match the simulations and confirm the consumption of < 30 μA per pixel. Front-end characterization and irradiation results up to 150 MRad are also reported.

Topmetal-II⁻, a direct charge sensor, was manufactured in an XFAB 350 nm CMOS process. The Topmetal-II⁻ sensor features a 72 × 72 pixel array with an 83 μm pixel pitch which collects and measures charge directly from the surrounding media. We introduce the implementation of the circuitry in the sensor including an analogue readout channel and a column based digital readout channel. The analogue readout channel allows the access to the full waveform from each pixel through a time-shared multiplexing. The digital readout channel records hits identified by an individually settable threshold in each pixel. Some simulation and preliminary test results are also discussed.

Thomson scattering (TS) is a proven diagnostic technique that will be implemented in ITER in three independent systems. The Edge TS will measure electron temperature T_e and electron density n_e profiles at high resolution in the region with r/a>0.8 (with a the minor radius). The Core TS will cover the region r/a<0.85 and shall be able to measure electron temperatures up to 40 keV . The Divertor TS will observe a segment of the divertor plasma more than 700 mm long and is designed to detect T_e as low as 0.3 eV . The Edge and Core systems are primary contributors to T_e and n_e profiles. Both are installed in equatorial port 10 and very close together with the toroidal distance between the two laser beams of less than 600 mm at the first wall (∼ 6° toroidal separation), a characteristic that should allow to reliably match the two profiles in the region 0.8<r/a<0.85. Today almost every existing fusion machine has one or more TS systems installed, therefore substantial experience has been accumulated worldwide on practical methods for the optimization of the technique. However the ITER environment is imposing specific loads (e.g. gamma and neutron radiation, temperatures, disruption-induced stresses) and also access and reliability constraints that require new designs for many of the sub-systems. The challenges and the proposed solutions for all three TS systems are presented.

The CMS Level-1 calorimeter trigger is being upgraded in two stages to maintain performance as the LHC increases pile-up and instantaneous luminosity in its second run. In the first stage, improved algorithms including event-by-event pile-up corrections are used. New algorithms for heavy ion running have also been developed. In the second stage, higher granularity inputs and a time-multiplexed approach allow for improved position and energy resolution. Data processing in both stages of the upgrade is performed with new, Xilinx Virtex-7 based AMC cards.

In the next generation of collider experiments detectors will be challenged by unprecedented particle fluxes. Thus large detector arrays of highly pixelated detectors with minimal dead area will be required at reasonable costs. Bump-bonding of pixel detectors has been shown to be a major cost-driver. KIT is one of five production centers of the CMS barrel pixel detector for the Phase I Upgrade. In this contribution the SnPb bump-bonding process and the production yield is reported. In parallel to the production of the new CMS pixel detector, several alternatives to the expensive photolithography electroplating/electroless metal deposition technologies are developing. Recent progress and challenges faced in the development of bump-bonding technology based on gold-stud bonding by thin (15 μm) gold wire is presented. This technique allows producing metal bumps with diameters down to 30 μm without using photolithography processes, which are typically required to provide suitable under bump metallization. The short setup time for the bumping process makes gold-stud bump-bonding highly attractive (and affordable) for the flip-chipping of single prototype ICs, which is the main limitation of the current photolithography processes.

A multi-channel far-infrared laser-based POlarimeter-INTerferometer (POINT) system utilizing the three-wave technique has been implemented for fully diagnosing the internal magnetic field in the EAST tokamak. Double-pass, horizontal, radially-viewing chords access the plasma via an equatorial port. The laser source consists of three CW formic acid (HCOOH) FIR lasers at nominal wavelength 432.5 μm which are optically pumped by independent infrared CO₂ lasers. Output power is more than 30 mW of per cavity. Novel molybdenum retro-reflectors, can with withstand baking temperature up to 350°C and discharge duration more than 1000 s, are mounted in the inside wall for the double-pass optical arrangement. A Digital Phase Detector with 250 kHz bandwidth, which provide real-time Faraday rotation angle and density phase shift output for plasma control, have been developed for the POINT system. Reliability of both polarimetric and interferometric measurement are obtained in 22 s long pulse H mode discharge and 8 s NBI H mode discharge, indicating the POINT system works for any heating scheme on EAST so far. The electron line-integrated density resolution of POINT is less than 1 × 10¹⁶ m⁻² (< 1°), and the Faraday rotation angle rms phase noise is < 0.1°. With the high temporal (∼ 1 μsec) and phase resolution (< 0.1°), perturbations associated with the sawtooth cycle and MHD activity have been observed. The current profile, density profile and safety factor (q) profile are reconstructed by using EFIT code from the external magnetic and the validation POINT data. Realtime EFIT with Faraday angle and density phase shift constraints will be implemented in the plasma control system in the future.

Optical tomography represents a challenging problem in optical imaging because of the intrinsically ill-posed inverse problem due to photon diffusion. Cerenkov luminescence tomography (CLT) for optical photons produced in tissues by several radionuclides (i.e.: 32P, 18F, 90Y), has been investigated using both 3D multispectral approach and multiviews methods. Difficult in convergence of 3D algorithms can discourage to use this technique to have information of depth and intensity of source. For these reasons, we developed a faster 2D corrected approach based on multispectral acquisitions, to obtain source depth and its intensity using a pixel-based fitting of source intensity. Monte Carlo simulations and experimental data were used to develop and validate the method to obtain the parametric map of source depth. With this approach we obtain parametric source depth maps with a precision between 3% and 7% for MC simulation and 5–6% for experimental data. Using this method we are able to obtain reliable information about the source depth of Cerenkov luminescence with a simple and flexible procedure.

Power converters and their controls electronics are key elements for the operation of the CERN accelerator complex, having a direct impact on its availability. They must be designed to achieve a high Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) and hardware reliability must be ensured by board level testing before hardware is assembled and installed. In this framework, the National Instrument PCI extension for Instrumentation (PXI) was chosen as standard platform for the development of testers. This paper reports on the design strategy and approach used focusing on the tester hardware, firmware and software development.

High precision time measurements are a crucial element in particle identification experiments, which likewise require pulse width information for Time-over-Threshold (ToT) measurements and charge measurements (correlated with pulse width). In almost all of the FPGA-based TDC applications, pulse width measurements are implemented using two of the TDC channels for leading and trailing edge time measurements individually. This method however, requires twice the number of resources. In this paper we present the latest precision improvements in the high precision TDC (8 ps RMS) developed before [1], as well as the novel way of measuring ToT using a single TDC channel, while still achieving high precision (as low as 11.7 ps RMS). The effect of voltage, generated by a DC-DC converter, over the precision is also discussed. Finally, the outcome of the temperature change over the pulse width measurement is shown and a correction method is suggested to limit the degradation.

We propose a new silicon photonics-based optical transmission system utilizing wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) . This technology has the possibility of reading out all raw data from a detector even without massive local data reduction. The transmitter in the detector volume consists of multiple integrated Mach-Zehnder modulators monolithically integrated with wavelength (de-)multiplexers. The first demonstrator currently under development aims for a data rate of 160 Gbit/s per fiber, scalable to 5 Tbit/s and beyond. We report on our recently developed Echelle grating WDM multiplexers with up to 45 channels on an area of 0.5 mm² and electro-optic modulators providing a bandwidth of 18 GHz.

The upgrade of the Belle II experiment plans to use a vertex detector based on two different technologies, DEPFET pixel (PXD) technology and double side silicon microstrip (SVD) technology. The vertex electronics are characterized by the topology of SVD bias that forces to design a sophisticated grounding because of the floating power scheme. The complex topology of the PXD power cable bundle may introduce some noise inside the vertex area. This paper presents a general overview of the EMC issues present in the vertex system, based on EMC tests on an SVD prototype and a study of noise propagation in the PXD cable bundle based on Multi-conductor transmission line theory.

This work presents a new silicon vertical JFET (V-JFET) device, based on the trenched 3D-detector technology developed at IMB-CNM, to be used as a switch for the High-Voltage powering scheme of the ATLAS upgrade Inner Tracker. The optimization of the device characteristics is performed by 2D and 3D TCAD simulations. Special attention has been paid to the on-resistance and the switch-off and breakdown voltages to meet the specific requirements of the system. In addition, a set of parameter values has been extracted from the simulated curves to implement a SPICE model of the proposed V-JFET transistor. As these devices are expected to operate under very high radiation conditions during the whole experiment life-time, a study of the radiation damage effects and the expected degradation of the device performance is also presented at the end of the paper.

The R&D activity for the design of the power distribution section of the ATLAS Liquid Argon (LAr) Calorimeter Trigger Digitizer Board board (LTDB) is presented. Many aspects concerning the radiation hardness and the ability to operate Point-of-load converters also in presence of high magnetic fields are covered. Devices designed by CERN for experiments at LHC have been used and their capability for implementation in the LTDB has been exploited with the aim to have a power distribution section with the required performances.

The ALICE experiment uses an optical read-out protocol called Detector Data Link (DDL) to connect the detectors with the computing clusters of Data Acquisition (DAQ) and High-Level Trigger (HLT). The interfaces of the clusters to these optical links are realized with FPGA-based PCI-Express boards. The High-Level Trigger is a computing cluster dedicated to the online reconstruction and compression of experimental data. It uses a combination of CPU, GPU and FPGA processing. For Run 2, the HLT has replaced all of its previous interface boards with the Common Read-Out Receiver Card (C-RORC) to enable read-out of detectors at high link rates and to extend the pre-processing capabilities of the cluster. The new hardware also comes with an increased link density that reduces the number of boards required. A modular firmware approach allows different processing and transport tasks to be built from the same source tree. A hardware pre-processing core includes cluster finding already in the C-RORC firmware. State of the art interfaces and memory allocation schemes enable a transparent integration of the C-RORC into the existing HLT software infrastructure. Common cluster management and monitoring frameworks are used to also handle C-RORC metrics. The C-RORC is in use in the clusters of ALICE DAQ and HLT since the start of LHC Run 2.

Particle detectors for future experiments at the HL-LHC will require new optical data transmitters that can provide high data rates and be resistant against high levels of radiation. Furthermore, new design paths for future optical readout systems for HL-LHC could be opened if there was a possibility to integrate the optical components with their driving electronics and possibly also the silicon particle sensors themselves. All these functionalities could potentially be combined in the silicon photonics technology which currently receives a lot of attention for conventional optical link systems. Silicon photonic test chips were designed in order to assess the suitability of this technology for deployment in high-energy physics experiments. The chips contain custom-designed Mach-Zehnder modulators, pre-designed ``building-block'' modulators, photodiodes and various other passive test structures. The simulation and design flow of the custom designed Mach-Zehnder modulators and some first measurement results of the chips are presented.

The Voxel Imaging PET (VIP) Pathfinder project presents a novel design using pixelated semiconductor detectors for nuclear medicine applications to achieve the intrinsic image quality limits set by physics. The conceptual design can be extended to a Compton gamma camera. The use of a pixelated CdTe detector with voxel sizes of 1 × 1 × 2 mm³ guarantees optimal energy and spatial resolution. However, the limited time resolution of semiconductor detectors makes it impossible to use Time Of Flight (TOF) with VIP PET. TOF is used in order to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR) by using only the most probable portion of the Line-Of-Response (LOR) instead of its entire length. To overcome the limitation of CdTe time resolution, we present in this article a simulation study using β⁺-γ emitting isotopes with a Compton-PET scanner. When the β⁺ annihilates with an electron it produces two gammas which produce a LOR in the PET scanner, while the additional gamma, when scattered in the scatter detector, provides a Compton cone that intersects with the aforementioned LOR. The intersection indicates, within a few mm of uncertainty along the LOR, the origin of the beta-gamma decay. Hence, one can limit the part of the LOR used by the image reconstruction algorithm.

A prototype camera for one of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) projects for the small size telescopes, the single mirror Small Size Telescope (SST-1M), has been designed and is under construction. The camera is a hexagonal matrix of 1296 large area (95 mm²) hexagonal silicon photomultipliers. The sensors are grouped into 108 modules of 12 pixels each, hosting a preamplifier board and a slow-control board. Among its various functions, this latter implements a compensation logic that adjusts the bias voltage of each sensor as a function of temperature. The fully digital readout and trigger system, DigiCam, is based on the latest generation of FPGAs, featuring a high number of high speed I/O interfaces, allowing high data transfer rates in an extremely compact design.

The LArIAT Experiment aims to calibrate the liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) using a beam of charged particles at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility. It is equipped with a novel scintillation light readout system using PMTs and custom SiPM preamplifier boards to detect light from reflector foils coated with wavelength-shifting TPB. A trigger on delayed secondary flashes of light captures events containing stopping cosmic muons together with the Michel electrons coming from their subsequent decay. This dedicated Michel trigger supplies an abundant sample of low-energy electrons throughout the detector's active volume, providing opportunities to study the combined calorimetric capabilities of the light system and the TPC. Preliminary results using scintillation light to study properties of the Michel electron sample are presented.

One of the major problems that have to be addressed in the design of the front-end electronics for readout of MPGDs, is its resistance to possible random discharges inside active detector volume. This issue becomes particularly critical for the electronics built as ASICs implemented in a modern CMOS technology, for which the breakdown voltages are in the range of a few Volts, while the discharges may result in voltage spikes of even thousands Volts. The paper presents test results of input protection structures integrated with a specific design of the front-end electronics manufactured in the 350 nm CMOS process. The structures were tested using an electrical circuit to mimic discharges in the detectors for different voltage and current parameters of the sparks. Accomplished measurements showed no degradation in the front-end electronics performance even after very excessive discharge tests.

Bioluminescence in vitro studies are usually performed with dedicated microscopes. In this work, we developed a novel image recovery algorithm and a multimodal system prototype to perform bioluminescence microscopy. We performed a feasibility study using GEANT4 Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of bioluminescent cells acquired at low SNR frames and processed using a Super Resolution Regularization Algorithm (SRRA). The method was also tested using in vitro cell acquisition. The results obtained with MC simulations showed an improvement in the spatial resolution from 90 μ m to 10 μ m and from 110 μ m to 13 μ m for in vitro imaging of mesothelioma cells.

The Heavy Flavor Tracker (HFT) is a recently installed micro-vertex detector upgrade to the STAR experiment at RHIC, consisting of three subsystems with various technologies of silicon sensors arranged in 4 concentric cylinders. The two innermost layers of the HFT close to the beam pipe, the Pixel ("PXL") subsystem, employ CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor (MAPS) technology that integrate the sensor, front-end electronics, and zero-suppression circuitry in one silicon die. This paper presents selected characteristics of the PXL detector part of the HFT and the hardware, firmware and software associated with the readout system for this detector.

The Silicon Tracking System (STS) is the main tracking detector of the upcoming fixed-target Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment which aims to explore the phase diagram of the strongly interacting matter in a region of high net baryonic densities and moderate temperatures. The STS will be used for the reconstruction of tracks of charged particles and determination of their momenta. The system comprises 8 tracking stations located 30 cm downstream the target and will be mounted with 300 μm thick double-sided silicon microstrip sensors in three different sizes. In this paper, the Quality Assurance (QA) procedures for the STS sensors are overviewed highlighting the automated QA testing procedure for a single strip defect identification.

This paper describes the results of irradiation campaigns with the high resolution Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) ADS1281. This ADC will be used as part of a revised quench detection circuit for the 600 A corrector magnets at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) . To verify the radiation tolerance of the ADC an irradiation campaign using a proton beam, applying doses up to 3,4 kGy was conducted. The resulting data and an analysis of the found failure modes is discussed in this paper. Several mitigation measures are described that allow to reduce the error rate to levels acceptable for operation as part of the LHC QPS.

There are 180 1.6 Gbps optical links from 60 Muon Port Cards (MPC) to the Cathode Strip Chamber Track Finder (CSCTF) in the original system. Before the upgrade each MPC was able to provide up to three trigger primitives from a cluster of nine CSC chambers to the Level 1 CSCTF. With an LHC luminosity increase to 10³⁵ cm⁻²s⁻¹ at full energy of 7 TeV/beam, the simulation studies suggest that we can expect two or three times more trigger primitives per bunch crossing from the front-end electronics. To comply with this requirement, the MPC, CSCTF, and optical cables need to be upgraded. The upgraded MPC allows transmission of up to 18 trigger primitives from the peripheral crate. This feature would allow searches for physics signatures of muon jets that require more trigger primitives per trigger sector. At the same time, it is very desirable to preserve all the old optical links for compatibility with the older Track Finder during transition period at the beginning of Run 2. Installation of the upgraded MPC boards and the new optical cables has been completed at the CMS detector in the summer of 2014. We describe the final design of the new MPC mezzanine FPGA, its firmware, and results of tests in laboratory and in situ with the old and new CSCTF boards.

We present a SAR ADC with a generalized redundant search algorithm offering the flexibility to relax the requirements on the DAC settling time. The redundancy also allows a digital background calibration, based on a code density analysis, to compensate for the capacitor mismatch effects. The total number of capacitors used in this architecture is limited to one half of the one in a classical SAR design. Only 2¹¹ unit capacitors were necessary to reach 12 bit resolution, and the switching algorithm is intrinsically monotonic. The design is fully differential featuring 12 bit 40 MS/s in a CMOS 130 nm 1P8M process.

Nowadays X-ray tubes in conjunction with digital pixelated imagers are standardly utilized for high resolution radiography with several micrometre or even sub-micrometre resolution. Achievement of the same resolution in X-ray computed tomography is a more demanding task due to the time-dependent tube electron beam drift as well as thermal deformations of the tube. In our work, the beam drift caused by the long-term stabilization of the tube electron optics was measured by observation of radiographs of 75 μm big tin ball rigidly mounted onto the tube head. The tube spot movement comprising both the beam drift and the movement caused by thermal deformations of the tube and its fixture was evaluated measuring the virtual movement of the inspected object. For this purpose, radiographs were recorded periodically at the same object position. Both the beam drift as well as spot movement were evaluated with subpixel resolution using digital image correlation tools. It was proven that the quality of a tomographic reconstruction can be significantly improved by the correction of the spot movement.

The Wide Field Imager (WFI) is an X-ray camera for the future observatory Athena as the next ESA L-class mission. The signal processing chain of the WFI reaches from the sensing of incoming photons to the telemetry transmission to the spacecraft. Up to now the signal processing chain is verified with measurements of real X-ray sources, thus only limited test scenarios are possible. This paper presents a new concept for evaluating the X-ray camera system. Therefore a new end-to-end evaluation is proposed, which makes use of a programmable real-time emulator of the WFI DEPFET detector system including front-end electronics. With a complete variation of all available input parameters significant characteristics of the camera system can be studied and evaluated. This end-to-end evaluation method is a powerful tool to support the development of the WFI camera setup not only in the early stage, but also to improve characteristics and complex processing algorithms of the WFI when it will be in orbit.

A new pixel front end chip for HL-LHC experiments in CMOS 65nm technology is under development by the CERN RD53 collaboration together with the Chipix65 INFN project. This work describes the design of a 10-bit segmented current-steering Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) to provide a programmable bias current to the analog blocks of the circuit. The main requirements are monotonicity, good linearity, limited area consumption and radiation hardness up to 10 MGy. The DAC was prototyped and electrically tested, while irradiation tests will be performed in Autumn 2015.

For the Phase-I luminosity upgrade of the LHC a higher granularity trigger readout of the ATLAS LAr Calorimeters is foreseen to enhance the trigger feature extraction and background rejection. The new readout system digitizes the detector signals, which are grouped into 34000 so-called Super Cells, with 12 bit precision at 40 MHz and transfers the data on optical links to the digital processing system, which extracts the Super Cell energies. A demonstrator version of the complete system has now been installed and operated on the ATLAS detector. Results from the commissioning and performance measurements are reported.

The LHCb experiment is one of the four large detectors operating at the LHC at CERN and it is mainly devoted to CP violation measurements and to the search for new physics in rare decays of beauty and charm hadrons. The data from the two Ring Image Cherenkov (RICH-1 and RICH-2) detectors are essential to identify particles in a wide momentum range. From 2019 onwards 14 TeV collisions with luminosities reaching up to 2 × 10³³ cm⁻²s⁻¹ with 25 ns bunch spacing are planned, with the goal of collecting 5 fb⁻¹ of data per year. In order to avoid degradation of the PID performance at such high rate (40 MHz), the RICH detector has to be upgraded. New photodetectors (Multi-anode photomultiplier tubes, MaPMTs) have been chosen and will be read out using an 8-channel chip, named CLARO, designed to sustain a photon counting rate up to 40 MHz, while minimizing the power consumption and the cross-talk. A 128-bit digital register allows selection of thresholds and attenuation values and provides features useful for testing and debugging. Photosensors and electronics are arranged in basic units, the first prototypes of which have been tested in charged particle beams in autumn 2014. An overview of the CLARO features and of the readout electronics is presented.

This paper presents the first performance results of the ALICE TPC Readout Control Unit 2 (RCU2). With the upgraded hardware typology and the new readout scheme in FPGA design, the RCU2 is designed to achieve twice the readout speed of the present Readout Control Unit. Design choices such as using the flash-based Microsemi Smartfusion2 FPGA and applying mitigation techniques in interfaces and FPGA design ensure a high degree of radiation tolerance. This paper presents the system level irradiation test results as well as the first commissioning results of the RCU2. Furthermore, it will be concluded with a discussion of the planned updates in firmware.

In this work the design of a constant fraction discriminator (CFD) to be used in the VFAT3 chip for the read-out of the triple-GEM detectors of the CMS experiment, is described. A prototype chip containing 8 CFDs was implemented using 130 nm CMOS technology and test results are shown.

18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a standard functional diagnostic technique to in vivo image cancer. Different quantitative paramters can be extracted from PET images and used as in vivo cancer biomarkers. Between PET biomarkers Metabolic Tumor Volume (MTV) has gained an important role in particular considering the development of patient-personalized radiotherapy treatment for non-homogeneous dose delivery. Different imaging processing methods have been developed to define MTV. The different proposed PET segmentation strategies were validated in ideal condition (e.g. in spherical objects with uniform radioactivity concentration), while the majority of cancer lesions doesn't fulfill these requirements. In this context, this work has a twofold objective: 1) to implement and optimize a fully automatic, threshold-based segmentation method for the estimation of MTV, feasible in clinical practice 2) to develop a strategy to obtain anthropomorphic phantoms, including non-spherical and non-uniform objects, miming realistic oncological patient conditions. The developed PET segmentation algorithm combines an automatic threshold-based algorithm for the definition of MTV and a k-means clustering algorithm for the estimation of the background. The method is based on parameters always available in clinical studies and was calibrated using NEMA IQ Phantom. Validation of the method was performed both in ideal (e.g. in spherical objects with uniform radioactivity concentration) and non-ideal (e.g. in non-spherical objects with a non-uniform radioactivity concentration) conditions. The strategy to obtain a phantom with synthetic realistic lesions (e.g. with irregular shape and a non-homogeneous uptake) consisted into the combined use of standard anthropomorphic phantoms commercially and irregular molds generated using 3D printer technology and filled with a radioactive chromatic alginate. The proposed segmentation algorithm was feasible in a clinical context and showed a good accuracy both in ideal and in realistic conditions.

The incoming and future upgrades of LHC will require better performance by the data acquisition system, especially in terms of throughput due to the higher luminosity that is expected. For this reason, during the first shutdown of the LHC collider in 2013/14, the ATLAS Pixel Detector has been equipped with a fourth layer— the Insertable B-Layer or IBL—located at a radius smaller than the present three layers. To read out the new layer of pixels, with a smaller pixel size with respect to the other outer layers, a front end ASIC (FE-I4) was designed as well as a new off-detector read-out chain. The latter, accordingly to the structure of the other layers of pixels, is composed mainly of two 9U-VME read-out off-detector cards called the Back-Of-Crate (BOC) and Read-Out Driver (ROD). The ROD is used for data and event formatting and for configuration and control of the overall read-out electronics. After some prototyping samples were completed, a pre-production batch of 5 ROD cards was delivered with the final layout. Another production of 15 ROD cards was done in Fall 2013, and commissioning was completed in 2014. Altogether 14 cards are necessary for the 14 staves of the IBL detector, one additional card is required by the Diamond Beam Monitor (DBM), and additional spare ROD cards were produced for a total initial batch of 20 boards. This paper describes some integration tests that were performed and our plan to install the new DAQ chain for the layer 2, which is the outermost, and layer 1, which is external to the B-layer. This latter is the only layer that will not be upgraded to a higher readout speed. Rather, it will be switched off in the near future as it has too many damaged sensors that were not possible to rework. To do that, slices of the IBL read-out chain have been instrumented, and ROD performance is verified on a test bench mimicking a small-sized final setup. Thus, this contribution reports also how the adoption of the IBL ROD for ATLAS Pixel Detector Layer 2 was developed, with the production of other 40 boards completed and tested in 2015, and how the same approach will be used for the production of the last 45 ROD boards for the Layer 1. This latter fabrication has started on Fall 2015.

The Detector Control System of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter has undergone significant improvements during the first LHC Long Shutdown. Based on the experience acquired during the first period of physics data taking of the LHC, several hardware projects were carried out to improve data accuracy, to minimise the impact of failures and to extend remote control possibilities in order to accelerate recovery from problematic situations. This paper outlines the hardware of the detector control and safety systems and explains in detail the requirements, design and commissioning of the new hardware projects.

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR is composed of 8 tracking stations consisting of roughly 1300 double sided silicon micro-strip detectors of 3 different dimensions. For the quality assurance of prototype micro-strip detectors a non-invasive detector charaterization is developed. The test system is using a pulsed infrared laser for charge injection and characterization, called Laser Test System (LTS). The system is aimed to develop a set of characterization procedures which are non-invasive (non-destructive) in nature and could be used for quality assurances of several silicon micro-strip detectors in an efficient, reliable and reproducible way. The procedures developed (as reported here) uses the LTS to scan sensors with a pulsed infra-red laser driven by step motor to determine the charge sharing in-between strips and to measure qualitative uniformity of the sensor response over the whole active area. The prototype detector modules which are tested with the LTS so far have 1024 strips with a pitch of 58 μm on each side. They are read-out using a self-triggering prototype read-out electronic ASIC called n-XYTER. The LTS is designed to measure sensor response in an automatized procedure at several thousand positions across the sensor with focused infra-red laser light (spot size ≈ 12 μm, wavelength = 1060 nm). The pulse with a duration of ≈ 10 ns and power ≈ 5 mW of the laser pulse is selected such, that the absorption of the laser light in the 300 μm thick silicon sensor produces ≈ 24000 electrons, which is similar to the charge created by minimum ionizing particles (MIP) in these sensors. The laser scans different prototype sensors and various non-invasive techniques to determine characteristics of the detector modules for the quality assurance is reported.

The ATLAS level-1 calorimeter trigger pursues a series of upgrades in order to face the challenges posed by the upcoming increase of the LHC luminosity. The hardware built during the Phase-1 upgrade will be installed in 2018. The calorimeter data will be available with a tenfold increase of granularity which allows to employ more sophisticated identification algorithms. To cope with this increase of input data, an entirely new custom electronics processing system will be built exploiting the technological advances in the design of complex PCBs, powerful FPGAs and high speed optical interconnects.

Synthetic diamond is one of the most promising wide band-gap materials for fabrication of solar-blind photo-sensors and radiation tolerant particle detectors. However, defects introduced during crystal growth and processing, causing carrier trapping and recombination, limit the functional characteristics of devices made of this material. In order to reveal the predominant defects, pulsed photo-ionization (PPI), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopic measurements have been performed on diamond samples grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and high pressure-high temperature (HPHT) methods. Measured photo-activation energies have been assigned to point defects associated with nitrogen and nickel impurities as well as to their complexes involving vacancies.

The core components of nuclear reactors (e.g., fuel assemblies, spacer grids, control rods) encounter harsh environments due to high temperature, physical stress, and a tremendous level of radiation. The integrity of these elements is crucial for safe operation of nuclear power plants; post-irradiation examination (PIE) can reveal information about the integrity of these components. Neutron computed tomography (CT) is one important PIE measurement tool for nondestructively evaluating the structural integrity of these items. CT typically requires many projections to be acquired from different view angles, after which a mathematical algorithm is used for image reconstruction. However, when working with heavily irradiated materials and irradiated nuclear fuel, obtaining many projections is laborious and expensive. Image reconstruction from a smaller number of projections has been explored to achieve faster and more cost-efficient PIE. Classical reconstruction methods (e.g., filtered backprojection), unfortunately, do not typically offer stable reconstructions from a highly asymmetric, few-projection data set and often create severe streaking artifacts. We propose an iterative reconstruction technique to reconstruct curved, plate-type nuclear fuel assemblies using limited-angle CT. The performance of the proposed method is assessed using simulated data and validated through real projections. We also discuss the systematic strategy for establishing the conditions of reconstructions and finding the optimal imaging parameters for reconstructions of the fuel assemblies from few projections using limited-angle CT. Results show that a fuel assembly can be reconstructed using limited-angle CT if 36 or more projections are taken from a particular direction with 1° angular increment.

We report the design and implementation of the GBLD10+, a low-power 10 Gb/s VCSEL driver for High Energy Physics (HEP) applications. With new circuit techniques, the driver consumes only 31 mW and occupies a small area of 400 μm × 1750 μm including the IO PADs and sealrings. These characteristics allow for multiple GBLD10+ ICs to be assembled side by side in a compact module, with each one directly wire bonded to one VCSEL diode. This makes the GBLD10+ a suitable candidate for the Versatile Link PLUS (VL⁺) project, offering flexibility in configuring multiple transmitters and receivers.

A phased array antenna and Software-Defined Radio (SDR) heterodyne-detection systems have been developed for adaptive array approaches in reflectometry on the QUEST. In the QUEST device considered as a large oversized cavity, standing wave (multiple wall-reflection) effect was significantly observed with distorted amplitude and phase evolution even if the adaptive array analyses were applied. The distorted fields were analyzed by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) in wavenumber domain to treat separately the components with and without wall reflections. The differential phase evolution was properly obtained from the distorted field evolution by the FFT procedures. A frequency derivative method has been proposed to overcome the multiple-wall reflection effect, and SDR super-heterodyned components with small frequency difference for the derivative method were correctly obtained using the FFT analysis.

Due to their low noise, CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors are suited to sense X-rays with a few keV quantum energy, which is of interest for high resolution X-ray imaging. Moreover, the good energy resolution of the silicon sensors might be used to measure this quantum energy. Combining both features with the good spatial resolution of CMOS sensors opens the potential to build ``color sensitive" X-ray cameras. Taking such colored images is hampered by the need to operate the CMOS sensors in a single photon counting mode, which restricts the photon flux capability of the sensors. More importantly, the charge sharing between the pixels smears the potentially good energy resolution of the sensors. Based on our experience with CMOS sensors for charged particle tracking, we studied techniques to overcome the latter by means of an offline processing of the data obtained from a CMOS sensor prototype. We found that the energy resolution of the pixels can be recovered at the expense of reduced quantum efficiency. We will introduce the results of our study and discuss the feasibility of taking colored X-ray pictures with CMOS sensors.

HV-CMOS sensors can offer important advantages in terms of material budget, granularity and cost for large area tracking systems in high energy physics experiments. This article presents the design and simulated results of an HV-CMOS pixel demonstrator for the High Luminosity-LHC. The pixel demonstrator has been designed in the 0.35 μm HV-CMOS process from ams AG and submitted for fabrication through an engineering run. To improve the response of the sensor, different wafers with moderate to high substrate resistivities are used to fabricate the design. The prototype consists of four large analog and standalone matrices with several pixel flavours, which are all compatible for readout with the FE-I4 ASIC. Details about the matrices and the pixel flavours are provided in this article.

Stellar explosions are astrophysical phenomena of great importance and interest. Instruments with high sensitivities are essential to perform detailed studies of cosmic explosions and cosmic accelerators. In order to achieve the needed performance, a hard-X and gamma-ray imaging detector with mm spatial resolution and large enough efficiency is required. We present a detector module which consists of a single CdTe crystal of 12.5 × 12.5mm ²and 2mm thick with a planar cathode and with the anode segmented in an 11x11 pixel array with a pixel pitch of 1 mm attached to the readout chip. Two possible detector module configurations are considered: the so-called Planar Transverse Field (PTF) and the Parallel Planar Field (PPF). The combination of several modules in PTF or PPF configuration will achieve the desired performance of the imaging detector. The sum energy resolution of all pixels of the CdTe module measured at 122 keV and 356 keV is 3.8% and 2% respectively, in the following operating conditions: PPF irradiation, bias voltage −500 V and temperature −10^o C.

This paper presents a 12-bit 60-MS/s SHA-less opamp-sharing pipeline analog-to-digital converter (ADC) implemented in a 0.13-μ m CMOS technology. A switch-embedded dual-input current-reused operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) with an overlapping two-phase clocking scheme is proposed to achieve low power consumption and eliminate the non-resetting and memory effects observed in conventional opamp-sharing techniques. To further reduce the power consumption, the ADC also incorporates a SHA-less multi-bit structure. The ADC achieves a signal-to-noise and distortion ratio of 64.9 dB and a spurious-free dynamic range of 77.1 dB at 60 MS/s. It occupies 2.3 mm ²of area and consumes 36 mW of power under a 1.2-V supply.

The decomposition of p-benzoquinone (p-BQ) in Solution Plasma Processing (SPP) was analyzed by Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy (CARS) by monitoring the change of the anti-Stokes signal intensity of the vibrational transitions of the molecule, during and after SPP. Just in the beginning of the SPP treatment, the CARS signal intensities of the ring vibrational molecular transitions increased under the influence of the electric field of plasma. The results show that plasma influences the p-BQ molecules in two ways: (i) plasma produces a polarization and an orientation of the molecules in the local electric field of plasma and (ii) the gas phase plasma supplies, in the liquid phase, hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals, which reduce or oxidize the molecules, respectively, generating different carboxylic acids. The decomposition of p-BQ after SPP was confirmed by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and liquid chromatography.

The Scalable Readout System (SRS) was defined by the CERN RD51 Collaboration as a multi-channel, scalable readout platform for a wide range of front ends. In 2014, SRS was ported to the ATCA (Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture) standard.

NEXT is an underground experiment aimed at searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay. NEXT-DEMO, a small-scale demonstrator, was read-out using SRS. NEXT has adopted SRS-ATCA for its first stage, called NEXT-NEW. Our presentation will describe the readout, DAQ and trigger for NEXT-NEW based on SRS-ATCA. This is, to our knowledge, the first experiment operating entirely on SRS-ATCA.

The Medipix3 Collaboration has broken new ground in spectroscopic X-ray imaging and in single particle detection and tracking. This paper will review briefly the performance and limitations of the present generation of pixel detector readout chips developed by the Collaboration. Through Silicon Via technology has the potential to provide a significant improvement in the tile-ability and more flexibility in the choice of readout architecture. This has been explored in the context of 3 projects with CEA-LETI using Medipix3 and Timepix3 wafers. The next generation of chips will aim to provide improved spectroscopic imaging performance at rates compatible with human CT. It will also aim to provide full spectroscopic images with unprecedented energy and spatial resolution. Some of the opportunities and challenges posed by moving to a more dense CMOS process will be discussed.

This paper focuses on the design and development of the laser injection system for the ITER Edge Thomson Scattering system (ETS). The ITER ETS achieves a temporal resolution of 100 Hz by firing two 50 Hz laser beams alternatively. The use of dual lasers enables us to perform the Thomson scattering measurements at a temporal resolution of 50 Hz in case that one of the laser systems stops functioning. A new type of beam combiner was developed to obtain a single beam that is collinear and fixed linearly polarized from two laser beams using a motor-driven rotating half-wave plate. The rotating half-wave plate method does not induce misalignment even if the rotating mechanism malfunctions. The combined beam is relayed from the diagnostic hall to the plasma using mirror optics and is absorbed at the beam dump integrated on the inner blanket. The beam alignment system was designed to direct the laser beam onto the center of the beam dump head. The beam position at the beam dump is monitored by four alignment laser beams which propagate parallel to the diagnostic Nd:YAG laser beam and imaging systems installed outside the diagnostic port.

In this paper, we employ dual-energy X-ray microfocus tomography (DECT) measurement to develop high-resolution finite element (FE) models that can be used for the numerical assessment of the deformation behaviour of hybrid Ni/Al foam subjected to both quasi-static and dynamic compressive loading. Cubic samples of hybrid Ni/Al open-cell foam with an edge length of [15]mm were investigated by the DECT measurement. The material was prepared using AlSi₇Mg_0.3 aluminium foam with a mean pore size of [0.85]mm, coated with nanocrystalline nickel (crystallite size of approx. [50]nm) to form a surface layer with a theoretical thickness of [0.075]mm. CT imaging was carried out using state-of-the-art DSCT/DECT X-ray scanner developed at Centre of Excellence Telč. The device consists of a modular orthogonal assembly of two tube-detector imaging pairs, with an independent geometry setting and shared rotational stage mounted on a complex 16-axis CNC positioning system to enable unprecedented measurement variability for highly-detailed tomographical measurements. A sample of the metal foam was simultaneously irradiated using an XWT-240-SE reflection type X-ray tube and an XWT-160-TCHR transmission type X-ray tube. An enhanced dual-source sampling strategy was used for data acquisition. X-ray images were taken using XRD1622 large area GOS scintillator flat panel detectors with an active area of [410 × 410]mm and resolution [2048 × 2048]pixels. Tomographic scanning was performed in 1,200 projections with a 0.3 degree angular step to improve the accuracy of the generated models due to the very complex microstructure and high attenuation of the investigated material. Reconstructed data was processed using a dual-energy algorithm, and was used for the development of a 3D model and voxel model of the foam. The selected parameters of the models were compared with nominal parameters of the actual foam and showed good correlation.

The quality of cancer treatment with protons critically depends on an accurate prediction of the proton stopping powers for the tissues traversed by the protons. Today, treatment planning in proton radiotherapy is based on stopping power calculations from densities of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) images. This causes systematic uncertainties in the calculated proton range in a patient of typically 3–4%, but can become even 10% in bone regions [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. This may lead to no dose in parts of the tumor and too high dose in healthy tissues [1]. A direct measurement of proton stopping powers with high-energy protons will allow reducing these uncertainties and will improve the quality of the treatment.

Several studies have shown that a sufficiently accurate radiograph can be obtained by tracking individual protons traversing a phantom (patient) [4,6,10]. Our studies benefit from the gas-filled time projection chambers based on GridPix technology [2], developed at Nikhef, capable of tracking a single proton. A BaF₂ crystal measuring the residual energy of protons was used. Proton radiographs of phantom consisting of different tissue-like materials were measured with a 30×30 mm² 150 MeV proton beam. Measurements were simulated with the Geant4 toolkit.First experimental and simulated energy radiographs are in very good agreement [3]. In this paper we focus on simulation studies of the proton scattering angle as it affects the position resolution of the proton energy loss radiograph. By selecting protons with a small scattering angle, the image quality can be improved significantly.

For the Phase I upgrade of the CMS pixel detector a new digital readout chip (ROC) has been developed. An important part of the design verification are irradiation studies to ensure sufficient radiation tolerance. The paper summarizes results of the irradiation studies on the final ROC design for the detector layers 2 – 4. Samples have been irradiated with 23 MeV protons to accumulate the expected lifetime dose of 0.5 MGy and up to 1.1 MGy to project the performance of the ROC for layer 1 of the detector. It could be shown that the design is sufficiently radiation tolerant and that all performance parameters stay within their specifications. Additionally, very high doses of up to 4.2 MGy have been tested to explore the limits of the current chip design on 250 nm CMOS technology. The study confirmed that samples irradiated up to the highest dose could be successfully operated with test pulses.

Spatial localization of radioactive sources is currently a main issue interesting different fields, including nuclear industry, homeland security as well as medical imaging. It is currently achieved using different systems, but the development of technologies for detecting and characterizing radiation is becoming important especially in medical imaging. In this latter field, radiation detection probes have long been used to guide surgery, thanks to their ability to localize and quantify radiopharmaceutical uptake even deep in tissue. Radiolabelled colloid is injected into, or near to, the tumor and the surgeon uses a hand-held radiation detector, the gamma probe, to identify lymph nodes with radiopharmaceutical uptkake.

The present work refers to a novel scintigraphic goniometric probe to identify gamma radiation and its direction. The probe incorporates several scintillation crystals joined together in a particular configuration to provide data related to the position of a gamma source. The main technical characteristics of the gamma locator prototype, i.e. sensitivity, spatial resolution and detection efficiency, are investigated. Moreover, the development of a specific procedure applied to the images permits to retrieve the source position with high precision with respect to the currently used gamma probes. The presented device shows a high sensitivity and efficiency to identify gamma radiation taking a short time (from 30 to 60 s). Even though it was designed for applications in radio-guided surgery, it could be used for other purposes, as for example homeland security.

The DSSC (DEPFET Sensor with Signal Compression) will be a silicon based, 2d 1 Mpx imaging detector for the European X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility (XFEL.EU) in Hamburg, Germany. The DSSC is foreseen for soft X-radiation from 0.5 keV up to 6 keV . Driven by its scientific requirements, the design goals of the detector system are single photon detection, high dynamic range and a high frame rate of up to 4.5 MHz. Signal compression and amplification will be performed in the silicon sensor pixels yielding a low signal noise. Utilizing an in-pixel active filtering stage and an 8/9-bit ADC, the detector will provide parallel read-out of all pixels. In order to calibrate offset and gain, the procedure currently under investigation relies on determining peak positions in measurements with calibration line sources such as ⁵⁵Fe. Here the status of studies of the stability and performance of a parameterized fit function designed for this task will be presented.

Small-animal computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging devices are increasingly being used in biological research. While investigators are mainly interested in high-contrast, low-noise, and high-resolution anatomical images, relatively large radiation doses are required, and there is also growing concern over the radiological risk from preclinical experiments. This study was conducted to determine the radiation dose in a mouse model for dosimetric estimates using the GEANT4 application for tomographic emission simulations (GATE) and to extend its techniques to various small-animal CT applications. Radiation dose simulations were performed with the same parameters as those for the measured micro-CT data, using the MOBY phantom, a pencil ion chamber and an electrometer with a CT detector. For physical validation of radiation dose, absorbed dose of brain and liver in mouse were evaluated to compare simulated results with physically measured data using thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs). The mean difference between simulated and measured data was less than 2.9% at 50 kVp X-ray source. The absorbed doses of 37 brain tissues and major organs of the mouse were evaluated according to kVp changes. The absorbed dose over all of the measurements in the brain (37 types of tissues) consistently increased and ranged from 42.4 to 104.0 mGy. Among the brain tissues, the absorbed dose of the hypothalamus (157.8–414.30 mGy) was the highest for the beams at 50–80 kVp, and that of the corpus callosum (11.2–26.6 mGy) was the lowest. These results can be used as a dosimetric database to control mouse doses and preclinical targeted radiotherapy experiments. In addition, to accurately calculate the mouse-absorbed dose, the X-ray spectrum, detector alignment, and uncertainty in the elemental composition of the simulated materials must be accurately modeled.

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) are semiconductor photo sensors that have the potential to replace photomultiplier tubes (PMT) in various fields of application. We present detectors consisting of 30 × 30 × 0.5 cm³ fast plastic scintillator tiles read out with SiPMs. The detectors offer great electronic and mechanical advantages over the classical PMT-scintillator combination. SiPMs are very compact devices that run independent of magnetic fields at low voltages and no light guides between the scintillator and the SiPM are necessary in the presented layouts. Three prototypes, two of which with integrated wavelength shifting fibres, have been tested in a proton beam at the COSY accelerator at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The different layouts are compared in terms of most probable pulse height, detection efficiency and noise behaviour as well as timing resolution. The spatial distributions of these properties across the scintillator surface are presented. The best layout can be operated at a mean efficiency of =99.9 % while sustaining low noise rates in the order of 10 Hz with a timing resolution of less than 3 ns. Both efficiency and timing resolution show good spatial homogeneity.

This paper presents a novel method for fast determination of absolute intensities in the sites of Laue spots generated by a tetragonal hen egg-white lysozyme crystal after exposure to white synchrotron radiation during an energy-dispersive X-ray Laue diffraction experiment. The Laue spots are taken by means of an energy-dispersive X-ray 2D pnCCD detector. Current pnCCD detectors have a spatial resolution of 384 × 384 pixels of size 75 × 75 μm² each and operate at a maximum of 400 Hz. Future devices are going to have higher spatial resolution and frame rates.

The proposed method runs on a computer equipped with multiple Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) which provide fast and parallel processing capabilities. Accordingly, our GPU-based algorithm exploits these capabilities to further analyse the Laue spots of the sample. The main contribution of the paper is therefore an alternative algorithm for determining absolute intensities of Laue spots which are themselves computed from a sequence of pnCCD frames. Moreover, a new method for integrating spectral peak intensities and improved background correction, a different way of calculating mean count rate of the background signal and also a new method for n-dimensional Poisson fitting are presented.We present a comparison of the quality of results from the GPU-based algorithm with the quality of results from a prior (base) algorithm running on CPU. This comparison shows that our algorithm is able to produce results with at least the same quality as the base algorithm. Furthermore, the GPU-based algorithm is able to speed up one of the most time-consuming parts of the base algorithm, which is n-dimensional Poisson fitting, by a factor of more than 3. Also, the entire procedure of extracting Laue spots' positions, energies and absolute intensities from a raw dataset of pnCCD frames is accelerated by a factor of more than 3.