Current research in High Energy Cosmic Ray Physics touches on fundamental questions regarding the origin of cosmic rays, their composition, the acceleration mechanisms, and their production. ...Unambiguous measurements of the energy spectra and of the composition of cosmic rays at the “knee” region could provide some of the answers to the above questions. So far only ground based observations, which rely on sophisticated models describing high energy interactions in the Earth's atmosphere, have been possible due to the extremely low particle rates at these energies. A calorimetry based space experiment that could provide not only flux measurements but also energy spectra and particle identification, would certainly overcome some of the uncertainties of ground based experiments. Given the expected particle fluxes, a very large acceptance is needed to collect a sufficient quantity of data, in a time compatible with the duration of a space mission. This in turn, contrasts with the lightness and compactness requirements for space based experiments. We present a novel idea in calorimetry which addresses these issues whilst limiting the mass and volume of the detector. In this paper we report on a four year R&D program where we investigated materials, coatings, photo-sensors, Front End electronics, and mechanical structures with the aim of designing a high performance, high granularity calorimeter with the largest possible acceptance. Details are given of the design choices, component characterisation, and of the construction of a sizeable prototype (Calocube) which has been used in various tests with particle beams.
The direct observation of high-energy cosmic rays, up to the PeV energy region, will increasingly rely on highly performing calorimeters, and the physics performance will be primarily determined by ...their geometrical acceptance and energy resolution. Thus, it is extremely important to optimize their geometrical design, granularity and absorption depth, with respect to the total mass of the apparatus, which is amongst the most important constraints for a space mission. CaloCube is an homogeneous calorimeter whose basic geometry is cubic and isotropic, obtained by filling the cubic volume with small cubic scintillating crystals. In this way it is possible to detect particles arriving from every direction in space, thus maximizing the acceptance. This design summarizes a three-year R&D activity, aiming to both optimize and study the full-scale performance of the calorimeter, in the perspective of a cosmic-ray space mission, and investigate a viable technical design by means of the construction of several sizable prototypes. A large scale prototype, made of a mesh of 5 × 5 × 18 CsI(Tl) crystals, has been constructed and tested on high-energy particle beams at CERN SPS accelerator. In this paper we describe the CaloCube design and present the results relative to the response of the large scale prototype to electrons.
The direct detection of high-energy cosmic rays up to the PeV region is one of the major challenges for the next generation of space-borne cosmic-ray detectors. The physics performance will be ...primarily determined by their geometrical acceptance and energy resolution. CaloCube is a homogeneous calorimeter whose geometry allows an almost isotropic response, so as to detect particles arriving from every direction in space, thus maximizing the acceptance. A comparative study of different scintillating materials and mechanical structures has been performed by means of Monte Carlo simulation. The scintillation-Cherenkov dual read-out technique has been also considered and its benefit evaluated.
Photon counting with a FDIRC Cherenkov prototype readout by SiPM arrays Marrocchesi, P.S.; Bagliesi, M.G.; Basti, A. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2017, Letnik:
845
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A prototype of a Focused Internal Reflection Cherenkov, equipped with 16 arrays of NUV-SiPM, was tested at CERN SPS in March 2015 with beams of relativistic ions at 13, 19 and 30GeV/n obtained from ...fragmentation of an Ar primary beam. The detector, designed to identify cosmic nuclei, features a Fused Silica radiator bar optically connected to a cylindrical mirror of the same material and an imaging focal plane of dimensions ∼4cm×3cm covered with a total of 1024 SiPM photosensors. Thanks to the outstanding performance of the SiPM arrays, the detector could be operated in photon counting mode as a fully digital device. The Cherenkov pattern was recorded together with the total number of detected photoelectrons increasing as Z2 as a function of the atomic number Z of the beam particle. In this paper, we report on the characterization and test of the SiPM arrays and the performance of the Cherenkov prototype for the charge identification of the beam particles.
The CALorimetric Electron Telescope CALET is collecting science data on the International Space Station since October 2015 with excellent and continuous performance. Energy is measured with a deep ...homogeneous calorimeter (1.2 nuclear interaction lengths, 27 radiation lengths) preceded by an imaging pre-shower (3 radiation lengths, 1mm granularity) providing tracking and
electron/proton discrimination. Two independent sub-systems identify the charge
of the incident particle from proton to iron and above (
40). CALET measures the cosmic-ray electron + positron flux up to 20 TeV, gamma rays up to 10 TeV, and nuclei up to the PeV scale. In this paper, we report the on-orbit performance of the instrument and summarize the main results obtained during the first 5 years of operation, including the electron + positron energy spectrum and the individual spectra of protons, heavier nuclei and iron. Solar modulation and gamma-ray observations are also concisely reported, as well as transient phenomena and the search for gravitational wave counterparts.
Given the good performances in terms of geometrical acceptance and energy resolution, calorimeters are the best suited detectors to measure high energy cosmic rays directly in space. However, in ...order to exploit this potential, the design of calorimeters must be carefully optimized to take into account all limitations related to space missions, due mainly to the mass of the experimental apparatus. CaloCube is a three years R&D project, approved and financed by INFN in 2014, aiming to optimize the design of a space-borne calorimeter by the use of a cubic, homogeneous and isotropic geometry. In order to maximize detector performances with respect to the total mass of the apparatus, comparative studies on different scintillating materials, different sizes of crystals and different spacings among them have been performed making use of Monte Carlo simulations. In parallel to this activity, several prototypes instrumented with CsI:Tl cubic crystals have been constructed and tested with particle beams (muons, electrons, protons and ions). Both simulations and prototypes showed that the CaloCube design leads to a good particle energy resolution (< 2% for electromagnetic showers, < 40% for hadronic showers) and a good effective geometric factor (> 3:5 m2 sr for electromagnetic showers, > 2:5 m2 sr for hadronic showers). Thanks to these performances, in 5 years of operation it would be possible to measure the ux of electrons+positrons up to some tens of TeV and the uxes of protons and nuclei up to some units of PeV/nucleon, hence extending these measurements by at least one order of magnitude in energy compared to the experiments currently operating in space.
A multi-messenger, space-based cosmic ray detector for gamma rays and charged particles poses several design challenges due to the different instrumental requirements for the two kind of particles. ...Gamma-ray detection requires layers of high Z materials for photon conversion and a tracking device with a long lever arm to achieve the necessary angular resolution to separate point sources; on the contrary, charge measurements for atomic nuclei requires a thin detector in order to avoid unwanted fragmentation, and a shallow instrument so to maximize the geometric factor. In this paper, a novel tracking approach for gamma rays which tries to reconcile these two conflicting requirements is presented. The proposal is based on the Tracker-In-Calorimeter (TIC) design that relies on a highly-segmented calorimeter to track the incident gamma ray by sampling the lateral development of the electromagnetic shower at different depths. The effectiveness of this approach has been studied with Monte Carlo simulations and has been validated with test beam data of a detector prototype.
The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) is an astroparticle physics experiment installed on the International Space Station since August 2015. The CALET mission was conceived to address several ...outstanding questions of high-energy astroparticle physics, like indirect detection of dark matter, the origin of cosmic rays (CRs), their mechanisms of acceleration and galactic propagation, the presence of possible nearby astrophysical CR sources. That can be achieved by precise measurements of the fluxes of CR electrons and gamma-rays up to the unexplored region above 1 TeV, and the energy spectra and composition of CR nuclei from a few tens of GeV to hundreds of TeV. In order to perform these observations, the instrument combines a thick total absorption PWO crystal calorimeter for energy measurement, a scintillator hodoscope for charge identi cation and thin imaging tungsten-scintillating fiber calorimeter providing accurate particle tracking and complementary charge measurement.
In this paper, we will present an overview of the main CALET results based on the data collected in the first three years of the mission.
The direct measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum, up to the knee region, is one of the instrumental challenges for next generation space experiments. The main issue for these measurements is a ...steeply falling spectrum with increasing energy, so the physics performance of the space calorimeters are primarily determined by their geometrical acceptance and energy resolution. CaloCube is a three-year R&D project, approved and financed by INFN in 2014, aiming to optimize the design of a space-born calorimeter. The peculiarity of the design of CaloCube is its capability of detecting particles coming from any direction, and not only those on its upper surface. To ensure that the quality of the measurement does not depend on the arrival direction of the particles, the calorimeter will be designed as homogeneous and isotropic as possible. In addition, to achieve a high discrimination power for hadrons and nuclei with respect to electrons, the sensitive elements of the calorimeter need to have a fine 3-D sampling capability. In order to optimize the detector performances with respect to the total mass of the apparatus, which is the most important constraint for a space launch, a comparative study of different scintillating materials has been performed using detailed Monte Carlo simulation based on the FLUKA package. In parallel to simulation studies, a prototype consisting in 14 layers of 3 x 3 CsI(Tl) crystals per layer has been assembled and tested with particle beams. An overview of the obtained results during the first two years of the project will be presented and the future of the detector will be discussed too.
Homogeneous and isotropic calorimetry for space experiments Mori, N.; Adriani, O.; Basti, A. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
12/2013, Letnik:
732
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Calorimetry plays an essential role in experiments observing high energy gamma and cosmic rays in space. The observational capabilities are mainly limited by the geometrical dimensions and the mass ...of the calorimeter. Since deployable mass depends on the design of the detector and the total mass of the payload, it is important to optimize the geometrical acceptance of the calorimeter for rare events, its granularity for particle identification, and its absorption depth for the measurement of the particle energy. A design of a calorimeter that could simultaneously optimize these characteristics assuming a mass limit of about 1.6t has been studied. As a result, a homogeneous calorimeter instrumented with cesium iodide (CsI) crystals was chosen as the best compromise given the total mass constraint. The most suitable geometry found is cubic and isotropic, so as to detect particles arriving from every direction in space, thus maximizing the acceptance; granularity is obtained by filling the cubic volume with small cubic CsI crystals. The total radiation length in any direction is very large, and allows for optimal electromagnetic particle identification and energy measurement, while the interaction length is at least sufficient to allow a precise reconstruction of hadronic showers. Optimal values for the size of the crystals and spacing among them have been studied. Two prototypes have been constructed and preliminary tests with high energy ion and muon beams are reported.