Speaker
Description
In the context of the ALICE 3 upgrade planned for LHC Run 5, a proximity-focusing Ring-Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector for charged particle identification is foreseen. It uses aerogel with a refractive index of 1.03 as the Cherenkov radiator and a photodetector surface based on Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays. To improve charged-particle timing, the integration of a thin, high-refractive-index window is being explored. This window, which is glued directly onto the SiPM arrays, acts as a secondary Cherenkov radiator resulting in a localized cluster of fired SiPMs around the particle's impact point.
Starting from 2022, we assembled various prototypes mounting 2 cm thick aerogel tiles and instrumented with various Hamamatsu SiPM array sensors, coupled with various window materials. The readout chain with the front-end electronics was based on both Petiroc 2A and Radioroc 2 complemented by a picoTDC ASIC. With this configuration, we measured π/K separation power better than 3σ up to 10 GeV, with a single-photon angular resolution below 4 mrad at Cherenkov angle saturation and more than 20 photoelectrons per ring over the full acceptance. In addition, we measured a charged-particle timing resolution better than 70 ps with a detection efficiency larger than 99%.
This contribution focuses on the current R&D status of the ALICE 3 RICH detector and the beam test results obtained with the latest prototype.
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