Speaker
Description
The dual-radiator Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector (dRICH) is a key component of the particle identification (PID) system of the ePIC experiment at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The detector is designed to provide efficient separation of charged hadrons over a broad momentum range in the forward (1.5 < $\eta$ < 3.5) hadron-going region, enabling precision studies of nucleon and nuclear structure through semi-inclusive and exclusive processes.
The dRICH concept employs a combination of gaseous and aerogel radiators to extend the PID coverage from $\sim$ 3 GeV/c up to about $\sim$ 50 GeV/c, coupled to a focusing optical system that images Cherenkov photons onto a finely segmented photon-detection plane. The detector will employ silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) as photon sensors, providing single-photon sensitivity, excellent timing performance, and immunity to the strong and nonuniform magnetic field at the dRICH location ($\sim$ 1 T), with a total of more than 300000 readout channels covering $\sim$ 3 m$^{2}$. Their use constitutes a key technological innovation, representing the first application of SiPMs for large-area single-photon detection in a high-energy physics experiment. However, their limited radiation hardness requires careful qualification and mitigation strategies to preserve single-photon sensitivity over the lifetime of the ePIC experiment.
In this talk, we will present highlights of the past and ongoing R&D and engineering activities for the key components of the detector, with some emphasis on the photosensor system, together with simulation results demonstrating the expected performance of the dRICH in the ePIC experimental environment. These studies indicate that the detector meets the stringent particle-identification requirements of the EIC physics programme and validate the adopted detector concept.
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