115883664
Time-of-flight measurement in the DZero Central Fiber Tracker
We continue evaluation of the new electronics developed for the Central Fiber Tracker and Preshower detectors. With the custom TriP chip and MCM II we have measured the position of the hits along the fiber by comparing the time of arrival of the photons at the VLPC with the expected timing relative to the beam. The measured rms resolution at the center of the fibers is 46cm for hits with more than 8 photo-electrons and is dominated by the statistics of photon arrival time. The corresponding resolution near the ends of the fibers (where more photoelectrons are collected) is calculated to be of order 27cm. With a second submission of the TriP chip to add the time-of-flight measuring capability we will effectively double the number of channels in the central fiber tracker. This capability will increase the maximum luminosity at which D0 can do tracking from {approx} 100 {center_dot} 10{sup 30}cm{sup -2}s{sup -1} to {approx} 200 {center_dot} 10{sup 30} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1} (at a bench mark tracking specification). The cost of replacing the electronics is of order $500K and the necessary lead time is 1.5 years.
55396534
Deep sub electron noise readout in CCD systems using digital filtering techniques
Scientific CCDs designed in thick high resistivity silicon (Si) are excellent detectors for astronomy, high energy and nuclear physics, and instrumentation. Many applications can benefit from CCDs ultra low noise readout systems. The present work shows how sub electron noise CCD images can be achieved using digital signal processing techniques. These techniques allow readout bandwidths of up to 10 K pixels per second and keep the full CCD spatial resolution and signal dynamic range.
119243204
Charge coupled devices for detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering
In this article the feasibility of using charge coupled devices (CCD) to detect low-energy neutrinos through their coherent scattering with nuclei is analyzed. The detection of neutrinos through this standard model process has been elusive because of the small energy deposited in such interaction. Typical particle detectors have thresholds of a few keV, and most of the energy deposition expected from coherent scattering is well below this level. The CCD detectors discussed in this paper can operate at a threshold of approximately 30 eV, making them ideal for observing this signal. On a CCD array of 500 g located next to a power nuclear reactor the number of coherent scattering events expected is about 3000 events/year. Our results shows that a detection with a confidence level of 99% can be reached within 16 days of continuous operation; with the current 52 g detector prototype this time lapse extends to five months.
118172311
Magnification Bias in Gravitational Arc Statistics
The statistics of gravitational arcs in galaxy clusters is a powerful probe of cluster structure and may provide complementary cosmological constraints. Despite recent progresses, discrepancies still remain among modelling and observations of arc abundance, specially regarding the redshift distribution of strong lensing clusters. Besides, fast "semi-analytic" methods still have to incorporate the success obtained with simulations. In this paper we discuss the contribution of the magnification in gravitational arc statistics. Although lensing conserves surface brightness, the magnification increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the arcs, enhancing their detectability. We present an approach to include this and other observational effects in semi-analytic calculations for arc statistics. The cross section for arc formation ({\sigma}) is computed through a semi-analytic method based on the ratio of the eigenvalues of the magnification tensor. Using this approach we obtained the scaling of {\sigma} with respect to the magnification, and other parameters, allowing for a fast computation of the cross section. We apply this method to evaluate the expected number of arcs per cluster using an elliptical Navarro--Frenk--White matter distribution. Our results show that the magnification has a strong effect on the arc abundance, enhancing the fraction of arcs, moving the peak of the arc fraction to higher redshifts, and softening its decrease at high redshifts. We argue that the effect of magnification should be included in arc statistics modelling and that it could help to reconcile arcs statistics predictions with the observational data.
55640707
0.250mm-thick CCD packaging for the Dark Energy Survey Camera array
The Dark Energy Survey Camera focal plane array will consist of 62 2k x 4k CCDs with a pixel size of 15 microns and a silicon thickness of 250 microns for use at wavelengths between 400 and 1000 nm. Bare CCD die will be received from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). At the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the bare die will be packaged into a custom back-side-illuminated module design. Cold probe data from LBNL will be used to select the CCDs to be packaged. The module design utilizes an aluminum nitride readout board and spacer and an Invar foot. A module flatness of 3 microns over small (1 sqcm) areas and less than 10 microns over neighboring areas on a CCD are required for uniform images over the focal plane. A confocal chromatic inspection system is being developed to precisely measure flatness over a grid up to 300 x 300 mm. This system will be utilized to inspect not only room-temperature modules, but also cold individual modules and partial arrays through flat dewar windows.
119215108
Plasma effect in silicon charge coupled devices (CCDs)
Abstract Plasma effect is observed in CCDs exposed to heavy ionizing α - particles with energies in the range 0.5–5.5 MeV. The results obtained for the size of the charge clusters reconstructed on the CCD pixels agree with previous measurements in the high energy region ( ≥ 3.5 MeV ). The measurements were extended to lower energies using α - particles produced by ( n , α ) reactions of neutrons in a 10 B target. The effective linear charge density for the plasma column is measured as a function of energy. The results demonstrate the potential for high position resolution in the reconstruction of α particles, which opens an interesting possibility for using these detectors in neutron imaging applications.
63772749
Fault tolerant issues in the BTeV trigger
The BTeV trigger performs sophisticated computations using large ensembles of FPGAs, DSPs, and conventional microprocessors. This system will have between 5,000 and 10,000 computing elements and many networks and data switches. While much attention has been devoted to developing efficient algorithms, the need for fault-tolerant, fault-adaptive, and flexible techniques and software to manage this huge computing platform has been identified as one of the most challenging aspects of this project. They describe the problem and offer an approach to solving it based on a distributed, hierarchical fault management system.