HAP Workshop Topic 4, Advanced Technologies

2 Jun 2014, 12:30 → 3 Jun 2014, 15:00 Europe/Berlin

S1 (DESY, Zeuthen)

Group Photo Gruppenbild_1.jpg

Monday 2 June

12:30 Registration

Session 1

Convener: Matthias Kleifges (KIT)

1 Welcome

Speakers: Prof. Marc Weber (KIT), Timo Karg (DESY)

Slides Karg_HAPT4_Welcome.pdf

2 The Program Topic "Detector Technologies and Systems" of the HGF Research Field "Matter"

Speaker: Prof. Marc Weber (KIT)

Slides HAP-Workshop_2014_5.pptx

3 The White Rabbit project

White Rabbit (WR) is a multi-laboratory, multi-company collaboration for the development of a new Ethernet-based technology which ensures sub-nanosecond synchronization and deterministic data transfer. It was initiated at CERN to provide a successor of the currently used General Machine Timing system for the accelerator complex. The project uses an open source paradigm for the development of hardware, gateware and software components. The presentation will give a general overview of the project, its origin, architecture and applications. It will describe how the three main technologies used in WR (IEEE1588, layer-1 syntonization and precise phase measurements) are combined to achieve sub-nanosecond accuracy of synchronization in the entire network. Methods to ensure high reliability and deterministic data delivery will be also outlined. Two of the main components of White Rabbit will be introduced: the WR Switch and the WR PTP Core. The presentation will then give an overview of the existing and future White Rabbit installations in different places around the world. The last part of the presentation will explain contributions of the WR team to the ongoing revision of the IEEE 1588 standard. The standardization effort aims at making WR a fully compliant implementation of a new high-accuracy profile within the standard.

Speaker: Mr Daniluk Grzegorz (CERN)

Slides 03_WhiteRabbit.pdf

4 Applying WR to facility-wide timing and control in FAIR

When the GSI facility is expanded to eight ring and two linear accelerators for the FAIR project, a new control system will be deployed. In contrast to the existing system where coordination is achieved by broadcasting a start event, the new system schedules actions to be executed at a specified absolute timestamp, accurate to better than a nanosecond. GSI will deploy more than 200 WR switches and 2000 WR-based front-end controllers to distribute absolute time to all control systems in the facility.

Speaker: Wesley Terpstra (GSI)

Slides terpstra-desy.pdf

5 The HiSCORE concept and project status

The HiSCORE concept is an air shower front sampling experiment based on non-imaging wide angle air Cherenkov detectors, each with a light collection area of the order of 0.5 m^2, and distributed over a large area of 1-100 km^2. The large field of view of 0.6 sr allows to cover pi sr of the sky for more than 200 hours per year. The Cherenkov pulse amplitudes and their timing provides a measurement of the lateral and longitudinal developement of the air shower and allows to reconstruct the energy, direction and type of the primary cosmic particle. HiSCORE will allow gamma-ray surveys beyond 10 TeV primary energy and cosmic ray physics from 100 TeV to 1 EeV. The main goal of HiSCORE is to find the Galactic cosmic ray Pevatrons by the detection of their gamma-ray spectra, expected to extend up to several hundreds of TeV. Furthermore, HiSCORE will cover cosmic ray measurements in the transition range from a supposed Galactic to an extragalactic origin of cosmic rays. At least one solution exists for each detector component. After a first prototype stage with 3 detector stations, the Tunka-HiSCORE collaboration has deployed a 9-station array covering an area of 0.1 km^2 in the Tunka valley in Siberia. This array is operating since October 2013 and is currently used to test the different detector components, the DAQ, and the reconstruction and analysis software. Starting in autumn 2014, an extension of 25 stations is planned. Recently, the TAIGA collaboration was founded, aiming at the construction of a large array of HiSCORE stations in combination with small (~3m) imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. A further prototype based on partly different detector components is currently in a testing stage. An array of 5 detector stations based on this latter design is planned for deployment on the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory in 2015.

Speaker: Dr Martin Tluczykont (University of Hamburg)

Slides Tluczykont_Zeuthen_HAP_2014.pdf

6 WhiteRabbit based time synchronization for Tunka-HiSCORE

The Tunka-HiSCORE detector is a non-imaging wide-angle EAS Cherenkov array for gamma-ray astronomy above 10 TeV. Time synchronization to nsec level of all sensor stations distributed over several km2 is a key issue for precision reconstruction of shower directions. For the Tunka-HiSCORE prototype array, a White Rabbit based approach has been installed. We describe hardware components, their specific modifications and the infrastructure developed. We discuss the timing performance, LED-array calibration results and first reconstruction of showers.

Speaker: Mr Martin Brückner (Humboldt-Universität)

Slides HAP-WRinSib.pdf

15:45 Coffee Break

Session 2

Convener: Hermann Kolanoski (Humboldt-Universität Berlin)

7 Status of the HiSCORE stations for Pierre Auger Observatory

...

Speaker: Mr Rayk Nachtigall (Uni Hamburg)

Slides 01_HiSCORE-Detector-status.pdf

8 IceVeto: An Extension of IceTop to Veto Air Showers for Neutrino Astronomy with IceCube

IceCube is the world's largest high-energy neutrino observatory, built at the South Pole. For neutrino astronomy, a large background-free sample of well-reconstructed neutrinos is essential. The main background for this signal are muons and neutrinos which are generated in cosmic-ray air showers in the Earth's atmosphere. The coincident detection of these air showers by the surface detector IceTop has been proven to be a powerful veto for atmospheric neutrinos and muons in the field of view of the southern hemisphere. This motivates this study to significantly extend IceTop in a cost-efficient way and to explore the increased physics potential. First simple estimates indicate that such a veto detector will more than double the discovery potential of current point source analyses. Here, we present the motivation and capabilities based on first simulations.

Speaker: Dr Jan Auffenberg (RWTH Aachen University)

Slides Zeuthen_June_v1.0.pptx

9 TAXI - Transportable Array for eXtremely large area Instrumentation studies

A challenge that is common to many experiments in high-energy astroparticle physics is the need for sparse instrumentation in areas of 100 km2 and above, often in remote and harsh environments. All these arrays have similar requirements for read-out and communication, power generation and distribution, and synchronization. Within the TAXI project we are developing a transportable, modular four-station test-array that allows us to study different approaches to solve the aforementioned problems in the laboratory and in the field. Well-defined interfaces will provide easy interchange of the components to be tested and easy transport and setup will allow in-situ testing at different sites. Every station consists of three well-understood 1 m2 scintillation detectors with nanosecond time resolution, which provide an air shower trigger. An analog sensor, currently a radio antenna for air shower detection in the 100 MHz band, is connected for testing and calibration purposes. We introduce the TAXI project and report the status and performance of the first TAXI station deployed at the Zeuthen site of DESY.

Speaker: Timo Karg (DESY)

Slides Karg_HAPT4_TAXI.pdf

10 Tunka-Rex: Radio Measurements of Cosmic Ray Air Showers in Siberia

Tunka-Rex is an array of currently 25 radio antennas spaced at approximately 200 m distance. Tunka-Rex is located at the Tunka site in Siberia, Russia and mainly funded by the Helmholtz Russian Joint Research Group HRJRG-303. It started operation in October 2012 sharing the data-acquisition with the Tunka-133 air-Cherenkov array. Thus, for each air-shower the antenna signal is recorded simultaneously with the air-Cherenkov signal. This is an ideal situation to perform a cross-calibration between both methods, and to determine the precision of Tunka-Rex for the energy and the maximum of the air shower in a purely experimental way. Consequently, the main purpose of Tunka-Rex is to determine the performance of the radio technique for cosmic-ray air showers using economic technology. Provided that the achieved precision is satisfactory, Tunka-Rex can be triggered by the scintillator extension of Tunka-133 during day time and enhance the total event statistics and reconstruction accuracy of Tunka around 1 EeV. In this meeting, we will present the current status of the experiment, its calibration, and first results on the reconstruction of the shower energy.

Speaker: Dmitriy Kostunin (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))

Slides kostunin-hap2014.pdf

11 Radio detection of cosmic ray air showers: The benefits of additional measurements with vertically aligned antennas

Nowadays the radio detection technique of air showers is evolving from prototype setups such as the LOFAR PrototypE Station (LOPES) to large-scale detector arrays like the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA). The detection techniques improved considerably over the last decade. Nevertheless, the contribution of the vertical component to the total radio signal emitted by air showers was not studied experimentally so far. It is expected that the vertical component gets more and more important for horizontal air shower detection. Most cosmic-ray radio experiments measure with only one or two horizontally aligned antennas at the same location. To study the benefits of additional measurements with vertically aligned antennas we have equipped LOPES with tripole antennas. The additional measurements with vertically aligned antennas are unique which leads to an increase of understanding the radio detection technique. We have developed several approaches exploiting the measurements with vertically aligned antennas and tested them with focus on inclined showers. Unfortunately, these measurements do not have the expected benefits. We investigated that this is mainly due to the high background level at LOPES-3D. For the first time the zenith-angel dependence of the noise background was measured for single components separately. The application of vertical antennas is more promising at radio quiet areas like Argentina which is currently under investigation with first prototype stations co-operating with AERA.

Speaker: Mr Daniel Huber (KIT)

Slides HAP_2014_advanced_technolgies.pdf

19:00 Dinner

Tuesday 3 June

Session 3

Convener: Prof. Marc Weber (KIT)

12 Prospective EHECR Observatory JEM-EUSO

The JEM-EUSO mission strives for the UV-fluorescence detection of extremely high energy cosmic rays (EHECRs) from space using Earth's atmosphere as a calorimeter. Further scientific goals are the identification of sources and source regions for EHECRs. JEM-EUSO will also be used to examine Neutrinos, Gammarays, the galactic magnetic fields, meteors and meteoroids as well as Earth’s atmosphere. The JEM-EUSO telescope consists of three Fresnel lenses and a focal surface made of multi-anode photomultiplier tubes (MAPMTs). The telescope will be attached to the International Space Station (ISS). With a very large field of view of 60° and the ISS-Orbit of 400 km altitude, the JEM-EUSO telescope will have an observation area on ground of around 1.4*105 km2. The detection of extensive air showers (EASs) will be done via UV-light detection. The main component of EASs are electrons which excite Nitrogen molecules of the atmosphere and thus produce isotropic fluorescence light. The particles in EASs travel faster than the speed of light in air and produce Cherenkov light directed towards the Earth. The ultraviolet fluorescence light as well as reflected and scattered Cherenkov light will be detected by the JEM-EUSO telescope. The focal surface (FS) consists of roughly 5000 MAPMTs located on the surface of a sphere with a radius of 2.5m. Every MAPMT has 8x8 pixels and is glued with an UV-filter that transmits UV-light from 330nm – 400nm. Four MAPMTs form one elementary cell (EC) and nine ECs form one photo detector module (PDM). 137 of these PDMs form the whole FS of the telescope. For fluorescence detection of cosmic rays it is essential to calibrate the detector pre-flight with utmost precision and to monitor the performance of the detector throughout the whole mission time. Through the complex structure of the MAPMTs special boards for power supply and signal extraction had to be designed. The front-end readout is achieved by custom made electronics using 64-channel ASICs that process data from one MAPMT. Because of recent developments in the field of Silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) these alternative devices for photon detection are very interesting for the JEM-EUSO mission. In comparison to MAPMTs they require no high voltage, are much lighter and are not as prone to high magnetic fields as MAPMTs. However, they still have a high temperature dependency, are not optimized for the wavelength spectrum of fluorescence light, and need a faster readout. With the present development of integrated SiPM-ASICs with fast readout an application for JEM-EUSO seems possible. In this contribution a short overview of the JEM-EUSO mission and a description of the present calibration device and procedure is given. We will further discuss our ideas for future SiPM use within JEM-EUSO.

Speaker: Mr Michael Karus (KIT)

Slides JEM-EUSO_MKarus_final.pdf

13 Silicon Photosensors in Cherenkov Astronomy - Experiences with FACT

Apart from long-term monitoring of bright TeV blazars, the major goal of the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) was the proof of principle for silicon based photosensors (Geier-mode Avalanche Photodiodes aka SiPM) in Cherenkov Astronomy. In 2.5 years of operation so far, FACT demonstrated that the stable and homogeneous performance of G-APDs allows for automatic and remote operation providing a high data taking efficiency. Since installation, no single problem in the focal plane occurred. Keeping the gain stable with a feedback system, consistent results independent of changes in the ambient light and sensor temperature are provided. As SiPMs do not show ageing when exposed to strong ambient light, their usage allows to extend the duty cycle of the telescope. Reliability and automation play an important role in future projects like the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Allowing for a stable performance of the detector, G-APDs are therefore a promising option as photosensors. In the presentation, the experiences and results from FACT will be discussed.

Speaker: Dr Daniela Dorner (Universität Würzburg)

Slides fact.pdf

14 Upgrade of the H.E.S.S. I Camera Electronics

H.E.S.S. is a system of four 12-meter and one 28-meter Cherenkov Telescopes in Namibia. The large H.E.S.S. II telescope, inaugurated only in 2012, is the biggest of its kind and provides the system with the lowest energy threshold of all existing Cherenkov telescope systems. To allow for a full harvest of its physics potential, an upgrade of the 10-year old cameras of the small telescopes is required. The main goals of the upgrade are (i) to reduce the readout deadtime implied by the high trigger rate of the big telescope, and (ii) to reduce the failure rate that presently affects the system due to the aging of electronic components. We will therefore replace most of the electronic boards in the cameras in the coming two years, modernising the system with technology from the CTA era. We present the components that were developed and the status of the project.

Speaker: Mr Marek Penno (DESY)

Slides HESS1U_HAP-Workshop_Penno_May2014.pdf HESS1U_HAP-Workshop_Penno_May2014.pptx

15 Design of a data acquisition system for the EURECA experiment

The EURECA direct dark matter search experiment, as outlined in its Conceptual Design Report (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212686414000090#), will consist of up to 1 ton of cryogenic (T~15mK) detector mass. The detectors will be Ge-Bolometers of EDELWEISS type and CaWO4 detectors of CRESST type. Each individual detector with a mass of ~1kg brings 4 to 6 channels which have to be read out simultaneously. The cryostat with the detectors will be within a water tank, acting as an active muon veto system, using the Cherenkov effect. The digitized data of the photomultipliers will be integrated in the DAQ as well. A highly integrated and scalable FPGA based DAQ system on the µTCA platform is projected as the central DAQ and the event building trigger unit. A smaller but similar DAQ concept developed at KIT is used in the present EDELWEISS-III phase. It processes the data of 240 digital channels, each with 1.6 Mbit/s data rate. Two simultaneous read out modes are supplied. One branch delivers a continuous raw data stream to 3 acquisition PCs while the other branch uses the FPGAs for trigger and event building. In the event mode, a time resolved ionization channel with 40 MHz and 16 bit sampling is available for additional localization of events within the Ge crystal and to detect multiple scattering events. We present the architecture of the DAQ system, its current operation within the EDELWEISS experiment and an outlook towards a potential EURECA DAQ system.

Speaker: Mr Bernhard Siebenborn (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))

Slides Siebenborn_Berlin_2014_V1.pdf

10:30 Coffee Break

Session 4

Convener: Uli Katz (ECAP)

16 Neganov-Luke Amplified Cryogenic Light-Detectors: Current Status and Future Applications

Ultra-low background experiments that employ the phonon-light technique for an active background suppression (e.g. the direct dark matter search experiment CRESST-II and the planned EURECA experiment or future experiments searching for the neutrino-less double beta decay) rely heavily on the sensitivity of the cryogenic light-detector at low energies. The Neganov-Luke (NL) effect offers a promising way to increase the sensitivity of these cryogenic light-detectors by drifting photon induced electrons and holes in a semiconductor in an applied electric field and thus amplifying the phonon signal. In this talk, we will present methods for the calibration and regeneration of these novel cryogenic light-detectors and recent results obtained with such detectors. Furthermore, we will introduce possible future applications.

Speaker: Mr Willers Michael (Technische Universität München)

Slides HAP_NL.pdf

17 Bremsstrahlung and Fluorescence in PMTs Causing Fast Afterpulses + Development of an Optical Module for the LENA Project

LENA (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy) is a next-generation liquid-scintillator neutrino detector with 50kton target mass. The broad spectrum of physics goals ranging from the sub-MeV to the GeV regime sets high demands on the photosensors. Currently, photomultipliers (PMTs) are the sensor of choice. However, besides detecting photons, they also emit light through bremsstrahlung or fluorescence induced by the electron avalanche in the dynode chain, which can produce further pulses in the same PMT or adjacent sensors. In order to study these effects and their connection to afterpulses occurring in the PMT, measurements of light emission and fast afterpulses have been carried through in collaboration with the CTA project. Both bremsstrahlung and fluorescence have been observed, with the first also being the origin of a type of fast afterpulses. Furthermore, a prototype of an Optical Module for the LENA detector has been developed, consisting of pressure-resistant housing containing a PMT, a light concentrator (LC), a mu-metal shielding, a voltage divider and an inactive buffer liquid (LAB) shielding the detector from the PMT's radioactivity. To determine the optimum LC shape Monte Carlo studies using a full optical model of the detector were carried through. The reflectance of potential LC materials was measured and their compatibility with LAB was tested using artificial ageing. Finally, FEM pressure simulations were performed for various designs of the pressure encapsulation to ascertain the compliance with the required maximum pressure of 1.2MPa. The results are presented here for the first time. - For the LAGUNA-LENA working group -

Speaker: Mr Marc Tippmann (Technische Universität München)

Slides

• 11h20_Tippmann_LightEmissionFromPMTs_OpticalModuleLENA_HAPTopic4Zeuthen2014
• 11h20_Tippmann_LightEmissionFromPMTs_OpticalModuleLENA_HAPTopic4Zeuthen2014.pdf
• 11h20_Tippmann_LightEmissionFromPMTs_OpticalModuleLENA_HAPTopic4Zeuthen2014.pdf
• 11h20_Tippmann_LightEmissionFromPMTs_OpticalModuleLENA_HAPTopic4Zeuthen2014.pdf
• 11h20_Tippmann_LightEmissionFromPMTs_OpticalModuleLENA_HAPTopic4Zeuthen2014.pdf
• 11h20_Tippmann_LightEmissionFromPMTs_OpticalModuleLENA_HAPTopic4Zeuthen2014.pdf
• HAP_Topic_4_Zeuthen_2014_-_Light_emission_from_PMTs_+_Optical_Module_LENA_-_Tippmann2.pptx
• HAP_Topic_4_Zeuthen_2014_-_Light_emission_from_PMTs_+_Optical_Module_LENA_-_Tippmann.pdf

18 ZOMBI: The Zeuthen Optical Module for Boreholes in Ice

Speaker: Rolf Nahnhauer (DESY)

Slides ZOMBI-HAPT4-WS-2014.pptx

19 Laser-induced thermoacoustic signals in the context of next-generation neutrino telescopes

A goal for next-generation neutrino telescopes is the search for cosmogenic neutrinos in the extremely high energy region as expected from the GZK effect. Event rates are lower than one event/km^3/year and therefore a detector volume more than one order of magnitude larger than IceCube is desirable. A possible approach to achieve such an increase in a cost-effective way is the acoustic detection of neutrinos, based on the principle of thermoacoustic signal generation by neutrino-induced hadronic cascades. The Aachen Acoustic Laboratory provides the means to investigate the thermoacoustic effect in a controlled environment. It consists of a cooling container in which a large volume of bubble-free clear ice(~3m^3) can be produced. Thermoacoustic signals are generated by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with an energy of up to 50mJ/pulse. The acoustic signals are recorded by an array of 19 piezo-based sensors embedded in the ice. The setup has recently been upgraded with a new light injection system and to allow for minimum temperatures of -50°C. This talk presents the status of the investigations.

Speaker: Mr Martin Rongen (RWTH Aachen)

Slides hap_rongen.pdf

12:30 Lunch

Session 5

Convener: Dr Thomas Berghoefer (DESY)

20 First investigations of the digital pulse processor DP5 for low energy electron measurements with a pin diode

In the Kartin experiment the Forward Beam Monitor Detector is being developed to measure the beta electron spectrum of the electron beam before it enters the main spectrometer. Here a pin diode is used to detect the electrons with an expected high rate of 10^6 1/s mm^2 and low kinetic energies between 0 and 18.6 keV. The high rates cause pile-up effects that lead to unwanted longer dead times of the detector. Furthermore, in the low energy region the electrical noise is the limiting factor (lower limit) for the detectability of the electrons with a satisfactory energy resolution. That is why fast pile-up veto and an efficient amplitude extraction are important for our set-up. Digital pulse processors (like the DP5), using trapezoidal shaping for pulse amplitude extraction, can increase the energy resolution and pulse counting rate. Real and synthesized pulses were produced and processed with the DP5. Noise characteristics can be added to synthesized pulses, yet the true pulse heights remain known. After extracting the pulse height with the DP5 the deviation from the true value can be obtained and be reduced to find the optimal choice of trapezoidal shaping parameters. A brief introduction in pulse processing is given followed by the results of the first investigations.

Speaker: Mr Enrico Ellinger (Institute for Particle and Astroparticle Physics - University of Wuppertal)

Slides HAP_14_Elligner.pdf

21 Accurate Raman Spectroscopy at the KATRIN Experiment

Neutrinos are by far the lightest fermions in the Standard Model of particle physics and also the most numerous fermionic particles in the Universe. Originally, they were believed to be massless. However, later neutrino oscillation experiments indicated that neutrinos actually carry (some very small) mass, making them the lightest fermions in the Standard Model of particle physics. Their absolute mass scale is highly relevant both in particle physics and cosmology. Several methods for measuring the neutrino mass scale exist of which high-precision electron spectroscopy of the tritium beta-decay is the most sensitive, model-independent method today. Within the context of said method, the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment, KATRIN, is the next-generation direct neutrino mass experiment. It is targeted at improving the current experimental sensitivity realized in the Mainz and Troitsk experiments of the late 1990s, from 2 eV/c² down to 200 meV/c² (90\% C.L.). This can only be achieved if systematic uncertainties are minimized; a key parameter is the isotopic composition of the tritium gas in the windowless source. This composition needs to be monitored inline and in near-time, and Raman spectroscopy was selected as the method of choice, being non-destructive and non-contact. For the KATRIN experiment to achieve the aforementioned sensitivity, the actual source gas composition needs to be determined on short sampling time scales of the order of one minute with a trueness of better than 10%, and a precision of 0.1%. This implies that the Raman source monitoring measurements need to mimic or better these boundary conditions; and it is essential that they are met for the full range of hydrogen isotopologues (H2, HD, D2, HT, DT, and T2) encountered in the source. In the presentation, the KATRIN experiment and its requirements on the tritium source will introduced. The talk will focus on Raman spectroscopy as employed for the composition monitoring at the KATRIN source. It will be shown how the system exceeds the precision and trueness requirements for KATRIN and how it performs in long-term runs.

Speaker: Magnus Schlösser (KIT)

Slides 140601-Schloesser-HAP-June-2014.pptx

22 Usage of (_ ^37)Ar for calibration of large liquid xenon detectors

Standard calibration methods for liquid xenon detectors includes the calibration with external sources of gammas or neutrons. Due to the excellent selfshielding of xenon against radiation, these methods are not usable at large detectors like the upcoming XENON1T or DARWIN experiments. To reach the inner regions of large detectors, radiation sources are needed, which can be induced into the detection medium. (_ ^37)Ar is one possible isotope for the use of an internal calibration source. We will present a method of producing (_ ^37)Ar out of (_ ^36)Ar by irradiation in a reactor and the construction of a device for inducing and dosing the trace gas into the gas recirculation system of a liquid xenon detector.

Speaker: Christopher Hils (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität)

Slides 03_HAP-Argon37calibration.pdf