Performance and aging studies for the ALICE muon RPCs
Luca Quaglia, Antonio Bianchi, Alessandro Ferretti, Martino Gagliardi, Diego Stocco, Roberto Guida, Beatrice Mandelli, Laura Alvigini
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Proceedings of the 15th Workshop on Resistive Plate Chambers and Related Detectors (RPC2020), 10-14 February 2020, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Italy
ALICE μ子触发（MTR）系统由72个阻性板室（RPC）探测器组成，分为两个探测站，每个探测站包含两个探测平面，每个平面有18个RPC。这些探测器以最大雪崩模式运行，使用的气体混合成分为89.7%的C₂H₂F₄、10%的异丁烷（i-C₄H₁₀）和0.3%的SF₆。在大型强子对撞机（LHC）的第二轮运行（Run2，2015-2018年）期间，研究人员持续监测了效率、暗电流等多项探测器性能指标。结果显示，探测效率保持了极佳的稳定性，但观测到探测器吸收的暗电流呈稳步上升趋势。\n自2018年底以来，LHC进入长停机阶段，在此期间ALICE实验将进行升级，以适配预计2021年启动的下一阶段数据采集工作。MTR正在进行前端电子学与读出电子学的重大升级，其功能也将发生转变，成为μ子鉴别器。本次升级仅计划更换受辐照最严重的RPC，因此开展专项研究以深入了解探测器状态至关重要。研究人员特别选取了两个RPC，用纯氩气长时间冲洗，并通过使气体完全电离产生等离子体。随后采用气相色谱-质谱联用仪分析输出气体，并借助离子选择电极工作站评估了等离子体与探测器内表面相互作用可能产生的氟化物的存在情况。\n本次报告将详细回顾LHC上ALICE μ子RPC的性能表现，同时也会讨论上述氩等离子体测试的流程与结果。
英文摘要：
The ALICE muon trigger (MTR) system consists of 72 Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) detectors arranged in two stations, each composed of two planes with 18 RPCs per plane. The detectors are operated in maxi-avalanche mode using a mixture of 89.7% C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$, 10% i-C$_4$H$_{10}$ and 0.3% SF$_6$. A number of detector performance indicators, such as efficiency and dark current, have been monitored over time throughout the LHC Run2 (2015-18). While the efficiency showed very good stability, a steady increase in the absorbed dark current was observed.
Since the end of 2018, the LHC has entered a phase of long shutdown, during which the ALICE experiment will be upgraded to cope with the next phase of data taking, expected in 2021. The MTR is undergoing a major upgrade of the front-end and readout electronics, and will change its functionalities, becoming a Muon Identifier. Only the replacement of the most irradiated RPCs is planned during the upgrade. It is therefore important to perform dedicated studies to gain further insights into the status of the detector. In particular, two RPCs were flushed with pure Ar gas for a prolonged period of time and a plasma was created by fully ionizing the gas. The output gas was analyzed using a Gas Chromatograph combined with a Mass Spectrometer and the possible presence of fluorinated compounds originating from the interaction of the plasma with the inner surfaces of the detector has been assessed using an Ion-Selective Electrode station.
This contribution will include a detailed review of the ALICE muon RPC performance at the LHC. The procedure and results of the argon plasma test, described above, are also discussed.
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) studies the transition of nuclear matter to a deconfined phase known as Quark Gluon Plasma, in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. ALICE is equipped with a muon spectrometer for the detection of quarkonia and heavy flavour particles. The trigger system of the spectrometer consists of 72 RPCs arranged in four detection planes, with a total area of 140 m^{2}. In the first three years of LHC operation, the muon trigger system was fully operational in data-taking in pp, Pb-Pb and p-Pb collisions. The RPC performance and stability throughout t…
A dedicated front-end electronics has been developed for the trigger chambers of the ALICE muon spectrometer which will work at the future LHC at CERN. These trigger chambers are based on RPCs (Resistive Plate Chambers) working in streamer mode. The number of electronics channels (about 21000) and the fact that RPC pulsed signals have specific characteristics have led to design a 8 channels front-end ASIC using a new discrimination technique. The principle of the ASIC is described and the radiation hardness is discussed. Special emphasis is put on production characteristics of about 4000 chips…
During the LHC Run-I (2010-2013) and Run-II (2015-2018), the selection of interesting events for muon physics in ALICE was performed with a dedicated muon trigger system, based on 72 single-gap bakelite Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs), operated in maxi-avalanche mode (ADULT front-end electronics without amplification and a threshold of 7 mV). From Run-III (starting in 2021) on, in order to fully profit from the increased luminosity of Pb-Pb collisions, the ALICE experiment will run in continuous readout (triggerless) mode and the muon trigger system (MTR) will become a Muon Identifier (MID). T…
The ALICE RPCs are operated with a mixture of 89.7% $C_{2}H_{2}F_{4}$, 10% i-$C_{4}H_{10}$ and 0.3% $SF_{6}$. $C_{2}H_{2}F_{4}$ and $SF_{6}$ are fluorinated greenhouse gases with a high Global Warming Potential (GWP). New European Union regulations have imposed a progressive phase-down of the production and usage of F-gases, aiming to cut down their emission by two thirds in 2030 with respect to 2014. Even though research activities are excluded from these regulations, the phase-down will inevitably increase their price and CERN is also aiming to cut down on its emissions. For these reasons it…
ALICE is the LHC experiment dedicated to the study of heavy-ion collisions. At forward rapidity a muon spectrometer detects muons from low mass mesons, quarkonia, open heavy-flavor hadrons as well as weak bosons. A muon selection based on transverse momentum is made by a trigger system composed of 72 resistive plate chambers (RPCs). For the LHC Run 1 and the ongoing Run 2 the RPCs have been equipped with a non-amplified FEE called ADULT. However, in view of an increase in luminosity expected for Run 3 (2021-2023) the possibility to use an amplified FEE has been explored in order to improve the…
Nowadays RPCs are in a booming phase: they are successfully used in many experiments, including LHC; there are ambitious plans to use them in several upgrade detectors and in some new experiments as well as in various applications. The aim of this paper is to highlight the main challenges which the RPC community may face in the next few years and which were addressed in talks presented at this conference. Examples could be: new and difficult requirements from experiments (and their upgrades) and applications, optimization and improvements of the existing traditional detector designs, improveme…
India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) collaboration is planning to build a magnetized Iron-CALorimeter detector (ICAL) for the study of atmospheric neutrinos. ICAL detector will be a stack of 151 layers of magnetized iron plates interleaved with Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) as active detector elements with a total mass of 50 kton. Resistive Plate Chambers are gaseous detectors made up of two parallel electrodes of high bulk resistivity like float glass and bakelite. These detectors are extensively used in several high energy physics experiments since 1980s because of high count rate, excel…
The muon identification system of the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC is based on Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) detectors. These RPCs are operated in the so-called maxi-avalanche mode with a gas mixture made of tetrafluoroethane (C$_{2}$H$_{2}$F$_{4}$), sulfur hexafluoride (SF$_{6}$) and isobutane (i-C$_{4}$H$_{10}$). All of these components are greenhouse gases: in particular, the first two gases are already phasing out of production, due to recent European Union regulations, and their cost is progressively increasing. Therefore, finding a new eco-friendly gas mixture has become extremely im…
In the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) program, during the next years, the instantaneous luminosity will increase up to 5 $\times$ 10$^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ which means a factor five higher than the nominal LHC. In that period, the present CMS Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) system will be subjected to background rates higher than those for which the detectors have been designed, which could affect the detector properties and induce aging effects. To study whether the present RPC system can sustain the hard background conditions during the HL-LHC running period, a dedicated lo…
Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs), used for the Muon Spectrometer of the ALICE experiment at CERN LHC, are currently operated in maxi-avalanche mode with a low threshold value and without amplification in the front-end electronics. RPC detectors have shown a good operation stability with the current gas mixture during the entire Run 1 (2010$-$2013) and the ongoing Run 2 (2015$-$2018) at the LHC. The gas mixture is made up of $C_{2}H_{2}F_{4}$, $SF_{6}$ and $iC_{4}H_{10}$. Since the first two gases have high Global Warming Potentials (GWPs), there is the risk that they will be phased out of produ…
Due to their simplicity and comparatively low cost Resistive Plate Chambers are gaseous detectors widely used in high-energy and cosmic rays physics when large detection areas are needed. However, the best gaseous mixtures are currently based on tetrafluoroethane, which has the undesirable characteristic of a large Global Warming Potential (GWP) of about 1400 and because of this, it is currently being phased out from industrial use. As a possible replacement, tetrafluoropropene (which has a GWP close to 1) has been taken into account. Since tetrafluoropropene is more electronegative than tetra…
Due to their simplicity and comparatively low cost, Resistive Plate Chambers are gaseous detectors widely used in high-energy and cosmic rays physics, when large detection areas are needed. However, the best gaseous mixtures are currently based on tetrafluoroethane, which has the undesirable characteristic of a large Global Warming Potential (GWP) of about 1400 and, because of this, it is currently being phased out from industrial use. Tetrafluoropropene (which has a GWP close to 1) is being considered as a possible replacement. Since tetrafluoropropene is more electronegative than tetrafluoro…
The forward muon spectrometer of ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is equipped with a trigger system made of four planes of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC), arranged in two stations with two planes each, for a total area of about 140 m2 . The system provides single and di-muon triggers with suitable transverse momentum selection, optimised for the physics of quarkonia and open heavy flavour. In the first two years of data-taking at the Large Hadron Collider (2010 and 2011) the 72 RPCs were operated in highly saturated avalanche mode in both pp and Pb-Pb collisions. The integrated charge w…
Large Resistive Plate Chamber systems have their roots in High Energy Physics experiments at the European Organization for Nuclear Research: ATLAS, CMS and ALICE, where hundreds of square meters of both trigger and timing RPCs have been deployed. These devices operate with complex gas systems, equipped with re-circulation and purification units, which require a fresh gas supply of the order of 6 cm$^{3}$/min/m$^{2}$, creating logistical, technical and financial problems. In this communication, we present a new concept in the construction of RPCs which allowed us to operate a detector at ultra-…
The CMS muon system operates gas-based detectors. Upgrades of the detectors and trigger components are needed to cope with increasingly challenging conditions of the HL-LHC. New irradiation tests are performed to ensure that the muon detectors will survive the harsher conditions and operate reliably. The new CERN GIF++ (Gamma Irradiation Facility) allowed to perform aging tests. We present results in terms of system performance under large backgrounds and after accelerated aging tests. New detectors will be added to improve the performance in the critical forward region: gas electron multiplie…
