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This article presents the development, full-characterization, and in-core testing of a miniature neutron detector for the investigation of highly localized in-core neutronics effects in the zero-power reactor CROCUS, operated at the École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. A ZnS: 6LiF screen, mixing inorganic scintillator and neutron converter, with a surface of 1 mm2 and a thickness of 0.2 mm, was coupled with a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) via a 10-m optical fiber. Analog readout electronics were adopted in this prototype version to process the SiPM output signal. A first campaign was carried out to assess the detection system capabilities in terms of neutron detection and counting in mixed neutron-gamma radiation fields. The miniature detector was thoroughly characterized with a Pu-Be source installed in the CARROUSEL facility and was subsequently tested inside a control rod guide tube of the CROCUS reactor in different reactor conditions, i.e., at shutdown, startup, and critical. The detector shows a linear response with a reactor power increase up to 6.5 W (i.e., around 108 cm−2 ⋅ s−1 total neutron flux) and excellent neutron counting capabilities, when compared to other localized detection systems available in CROCUS, such as the miniature fission chambers and single-crystal vapor deposited (sCVD) diamond detectors. In addition, the exposure of the miniature detector to a 60Co source with an activity of ~250 GBq, combined with the computation of the gamma flux in CROCUS with the Serpent 2 Monte Carlo code, confirmed the gamma insensitivity of the system in a mixed neutron-gamma field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ATLAS Tile Calorimeter is a sampling detector composed by cells made of iron-scintillator tiles. The calorimeter cell signals are digitized in the front-end electronics and transmitted to the Read-Out Drivers (RODs) at the first level trigger rate. The ROD receives triggered data from up to 9856 channels and provides the energy, phase and quality factor of the signals to the second level trigger. The back-end electronics is divided into four partitions containing eight RODs each. Therefore, a total of 32 RODs are used to process and transmit the data of the TileCal detector. In order to emulate the detector signals in the production and commissioning of ROD modules a board called ROD Injector and Multiplexer Board (RIMBO) was designed. In this paper, the RIMBO main functional blocks, PCB design and the different operation modes are described. It is described the crucial role of the board within the TileCal ROD test-bench in order to emulate the front-end electronics during the validation of ROD boards as well as during the evaluation of the ROD signal reconstruction algorithms. Finally, qualification and performance results for the injection operation mode obtained during the Tile Calorimeter ROD production tests are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The calorimeter system of the LHCb experiment consists of a scintillator layer (SPD), a preshower detector (PS), an electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) and a hadronic calorimeter (HCAL), and allows to trigger on hadron, electron and photon candidates. The time synchronization of the four sub-detectors studied with cosmic rays, LHC beam injection tests and LHC proton proton collisions is presented. Energy calibration methods for each subsystem are discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: LHCb, one of the four LHC experiments, is dedicated to the study of CP violation and rare decays in the B meson sector. It aims at completing the understanding of the quark flavor physics and at revealing signs of new physics beyond the standard model. The goal of the LHCb calorimeter is twofold. On the one hand, the calorimeter system has to provide a fast response for the first level trigger (L0) on the nature of the meson decay. Thus, the scintillator pad detector and the preshower provide a good / charged particle and electron/ separation and the electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters give a fast transverse energy determination. On the other hand, it provides offline precision measurements and particle identification. The calorimeter system consists of four sub-detectors. They are described in the first section, emphasising the technical choices and the similarities among those components. The second part concerns the monitoring and calibration tools and procedures that will be applied to have a satisfactory running of the detector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: ALICE is the general purpose experiment at the LHC dedicated to the study of heavy-ion collisions. The electromagnetic calorimeter (EMCal) is a late addition to the ALICE suite of detectors with first modules installed in ALICE this year. The EMCal is designed to trigger on high energy gamma-rays and jets, and to enhance the capabilities of ALICE for these measurements. The EMCal is a Pb/scintillator sampling shish-kebab type calorimeter. The EMCal construction, readout, and performance in beam tests at the CERN SPS and PS are described. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Fibre Active Scintillator Target (FAST) experiment is a novel imaging particle detector currently operating in a high-intensity π+ beam at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland. The detector is designed to perform a high precision measurement of the μ+ lifetime, in order to determine the Fermi constant, G f, to 1ppm precision. A dedicated second level (LV2) hardware trigger system has been developed for the experiment. It performs an online analysis of the π/μ decay chain by identifying the stopping position of each beam particle and detecting the subsequent appearance of the muon. The LV2 trigger then records the muon stop pixel and selectively triggers the Time-to-Digital Converters (TDCs) in the vicinity. A detailed description of the trigger system is presented in this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN uses a scintillator-iron technique for its hadronic Tile Calorimeter (TileCal). Scintillating light is readout via 9852 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). Calibration and monitoring of these PMTs are made using a LASER based system. Short light pulses are sent simultaneously into all the TileCal photomultiplier''s tubes (PMTs) during ATLAS physics runs, thus providing essential information for ATLAS data quality and monitoring analyses. The experimental setup developed for this purpose is described as well as preliminary results obtained during ATLAS commissioning phase in 2008. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]