| Article | |
| Report number | arXiv:2209.13379 |
| Title | Performance of a prototype TORCH time-of-flight detector |
| Author(s) | Bhasin, S. (Bristol U. ; Bath U.) ; Blake, T. (Warwick U.) ; Brook, N.H. (Bath U.) ; Cicala, M.F. (Warwick U.) ; Conneely, T. (Astrium Ltd., Stevenage) ; Cussans, D. (Bristol U.) ; van Dijk, M.W.U. (CERN) ; Forty, R. (CERN) ; Frei, C. (CERN) ; Gabriel, E.P.M. (Edinburgh U., Inst. Astron.) ; Gao, R. (Oxford U.) ; Gershon, T. (Warwick U.) ; Gys, T. (CERN) ; Hadavizadeh, T. (Oxford U.) ; Hancock, T.H. (Oxford U.) ; Harnew, N. (Oxford U.) ; Jones, T. (Warwick U.) ; Kreps, M. (Warwick U.) ; Milnes, J. (Astrium Ltd., Stevenage) ; Piedigrossi, D. (CERN) ; Rademacker, J. (Bristol U.) ; Smallwood, J.C. (Oxford U.) |
| Publication | 2023-03-06 |
| Imprint | 2022-09-27 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Note | 18 pages, 16 figures, to be published in Nucl. Instrum. Methods A. During review, clarity added to description throughout; updated figures 15 and 16; revised argument in section 6.3 |
| In: | Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., A 1050 (2023) 168181 |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.nima.2023.168181 (publication) |
| Subject category | hep-ex ; Particle Physics - Experiment ; physics.ins-det ; Detectors and Experimental Techniques |
| Abstract | TORCH is a novel time-of-flight detector, designed to provide charged particle identification of pions, kaons and protons in the momentum range 2-20 GeV/c over a 9.5 m flight path. A detector module, comprising a 10mm thick quartz plate, provides a source of Cherenkov photons which propagate via total internal reflection to one end of the plate. Here, the photons are focused onto an array of custom-designed Micro-Channel Plate Photo-Multiplier Tubes (MCP-PMTs) which measure their positions and arrival times. The target time resolution per photon is 70 ps which, for 30 detected photons per charged particle, results in a 10-15 ps time-of-flight resolution. A 1.25 m length TORCH prototype module employing two MCP-PMTs has been developed, and tested at the CERN PS using a charged hadron beam of 8 GeV/c momentum. The construction of the module, the properties of the MCP-PMTs and the readout electronics are described. Measurements of the collected photon yields and single-photon time resolutions have been performed as a function of particle entry points on the plate and compared to expectations. These studies show that the performance of the TORCH prototype approaches the design goals for the full-scale detector. |
| Copyright/License | preprint: (License: CC BY 4.0) publication: © 2023-2024 The Author(s) (License: CC BY 4.0) |
Corresponding record in: Inspire
Record created 2022-09-29, last modified 2024-09-27
