14404026
CHERCAM: The Cherenkov imager of the CREAM experiment
A Cherenkov imager, CHERCAM (CHERenkov CAMera), has been designed and built for the CREAM (Cosmic-Ray Energetic and Mass) balloon-borne experiment. The instrument will perform charge measurements of nuclear cosmic-ray over a range extending from proton to iron. It will achieve individual charge separation of the elements over this range [M. Buenerd, et al., in: 28th ICRC, Tsukuba, Japan, OG 1.5, 2003, p. 2157. [2]] (0:25 charge unit rms), allowing measurements of the energy spectra of individual elements by the CREAM instrument in the energy range from 1010 to 1015 eV. CHERCAM is a proximity focused imager, based on a dedicated mechanical structure, equipped with an n ¼ 1:05 silica aerogel radiator plane, separated by a 12 cm ring expansion gap from a photon detector plane consisting of a 1600 photomultiplier array, backed with dedicated front-end readout electronics. A prototype of the detector has been recently tested with 100 and 300 GeV/c Z ¼ 1 particle beams at CERN. The contribution reports on both the beam test results of the prototype, and of the counter performance in ground operation.
122691903
Beam test of a dual layer silicon charge detector (SCD) for the CREAM experiment
Abstract The Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM) balloon-borne experiment is designed for direct measurement of high-energy cosmic rays. The experimental goal is to measure single-element fluxes of all cosmic-ray nuclei from hydrogen to iron with energies up to the “knee”, or spectral index change near 10 15 eV , observed in the all-particle spectrum. The dual layer Silicon Charge Detector (SCD) was designed to provide precise charge measurements. Each SCD layer has an active area of 77.9 cm × 79.5 cm and consists of 156 silicon sensors mounted on 24 ladders. Each sensor contains a 4 × 4 array of single-sided DC type silicon pixels with an active area of 2.1 cm 2 . The detector was flown on the second CREAM flight (December 2005–January 2006) and recovered successfully. The SCD was refurbished for the third CREAM flight and tested with high-energy electron and hadron beams at CERN. This paper reports on the performance of the SCD during the beam test.
115533125
Next generation TRD for CREAM using gas straw tubes and foam radiators
The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiment is designed to investigate the source, propagation and acceleration mechanism of high energy cosmic-ray nuclei, by directly measuring their energy and charge. Incorporating a transition radiation detector (TRD) provides an energy measurement complementary to the calorimeter, as well as additional track reconstruction capability. The next generation CREAM TRD is designed with 4 mm straw tubes to greatly improve tracking over the previous 20 mm tube design, thereby enhancing charge identification in the silicon charge detector (SCD). Plastic foam provides a weight-efficient radiator that doubles as a mechanical support for the straw layers. This design provides a compact, robust, reliable, low density detector to measure incident nucleus energy for 3 < Z < 30 nuclei in the Lorentz gamma factor range of 10 10. This paper discusses the new TRD design and the low power front end electronics used to achieve the large dynamic range required. Beam test results of a prototype TRD are also reported.
199680278
Black hole entropy and Hawking radiation spectrum predictions without Immirzi parameter