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PS/SPS User Meeting
PS-SPS Users Meeting for Week 39 held on September 28th, 2023
check out the EATM meeting last Tuesday!
indico.cern.ch/event/1329739/
The agenda for this meeting is based upon user schedule 2.0.0, please cf. here. Please note the current injector schedule which contains information about MDs, Technical stops, etc. and can be found here.
New user schedule including all the agreed changes to be published asap!
Next user meeting:
For week 40 on Thursday, October 5th, 2023 10:30 CEST
Meeting room: 874/1-011 (CERN)
News from the PS & SPS Physics Coordinator (E.B. Holzer, M. Jaekel)
News from the Facilities Operations Meeting (FOM) (M. Schenk)
Check the Page 1 on the machine vistars for most up-to-date information of the beam availability:
https://op-webtools.web.cern.ch/vistar/vistars.php?usr=SPS1
https://op-webtools.web.cern.ch/vistar/vistars.php?usr=CPS
Now, during the LHC ion commissioning period more last-minute changes can happen than usually during the run.
During the rest of the run: Dedicated LHC filling with ions trains in the SPS. The fillings might last around 1 hour and repeat about every 5 hours.
- PS EA duty cycle is much reduced during the LHC filling periods --> If you require more cycles to finish your measurements - you can ask for some compensation during the other periods --> to be discussed at the user meeting.
- SPS NA --> no beam during dedicated LHC filling
For an invesitation into the 50 and 100 Hz on the NA spills, the automatic feed-back system needs to be switched off for a couple of spills. This might happen in the morning and the afternnon of September 21., 22, 25 and 26 - it should last only for 4 to 6 spills each time.
Injector Schedule
An updated version of the injector schedule for 2023 has been presented at the IEFC Friday September 1st:
- Dedicated Ion commissioning periods (i.e. no beam for north area user) from 8:00 to 20:00: September 5, 6, 12, 13, 20 and 25
- Some of these commissioning periods have already be shortened. Other changes to be expected --> proton beam to NA users might be available
- NA users of week 38 have one additional day of beam time
- Proton beam to NA all day on Wednesday 27th (no MD)
- The proton beam will stop on Thursday 28th Septmber at 8:00. This is followed by DSO tests planned from ~08:30 and setting up of the operational SFTION cycle with extraction & target steering.
- AWAKE run 4 in Wk 41
Other
- 25.09., early morning: CO2 problem in EHN2 blocked physics. Could not be resolved right away. Next time such problem occurs: TI has contact person (best effort) for gas systems issues.
Preview of MDs:
- Thank you to physics coordination for the additional short parallel MD slot in Wk 39
- Wk 40: short parallel MDs Mon & Tue
- Long parallel MDs during the ion Run so far planned for ion MDs → Could move to Monday if better for Physics.
How to best schedule the MDs?
- Next dedicated SPS MD during the ion run; moved to week 43 to test wirescanners with high intensity and high duty cycle.
- Dedicated Linac4 and PSB high intensity in week 44
Intensity split and wobbling
- Sharing between T2 and T4 (2022, ion run)
- T2: 160E8
- T4: 250E8
- Supercycle (2022, ions & AWAKE in parallel):
- SFTION1 -> AWAKE -> AWAKE -> AWAKE -> MD1.
- SC length: 50.4 s
PS Machine Report (Please Add Your Name Here)
SPS Machine Report (M. Schenk)
Machine availability: good, however, with important perturbations for NA physics given LHC ion setting up & frequent, long fills. Thanks for your understanding.
Tuesday - Thursday: suddenly strong 50 Hz spill noise, difficult to keep under control. To be investigated.
Today
- 08:00: end of proton run
- DSO tests ongoing
- Setting up operational SFTION: transverse tuning, rf gymnastics, extraction, steering to targets …
Friday: beam stop at 13:30, followed by radiation survey (14:00 - ~16:00).
Next
- SPS coordinator, Wk40: Giulia Papotti
- Plans, Wk 40: start Pb ion physics, short & long parallel MDs, dedicated MD moved to Wk 43
- AWAKE Run 4
Safety / Radiation Protection (L. Rowland)
Apologies from the EP Safety Office for the problems experienced by all using our website. The problems have now been resolved and the website and ISIEC site is fully functional again - if anyone experiences any further problems, please send an email to the EP Safety Office with your requested inspection time.
No specific safety points this week - thank you to everyone for ensuring safe practices whilst at CERN.
n_ToF (Nikolas Patronis)
General: In all experimental areas the physics programme is running nicely without major issues.
EAR1: In EAR1 the transmission measurement tests are on-going. For this week we are using the filter station to perform different transmission measurements. Preliminary results are very promising.
EAR2: The 26Al(n,p/a) is running nicely. This is the last week with this detector and will be devoted to auxiliary measurements with LiF and boron samples. Next week the same reaction will be studied by recording charge particle reaction products at forward angles using the Si position sensitive nTD annular detector.
NEAR: No inteventions this week but a number of interventions are exected the coming week. PS will be informed as soon a specific planning is available.
Special beam requests: Between 3/10 -17/10 cycles with low intensity 10E10 ppp will be needed. As soon specific planning becomes available this will be communicated directly with PS-teams.
PoT: 1.95E19
Expected beam stops at n_TOF
- 3/10; 08:00 - 16:00
- 11/10; 08:00 - 16:00
- 17/10; 08:00 - 16:00
East Area Beam Status (D. Banerjee)
East area overall:
T09: Issues with CESAR and profile monitors. This is being followed with the experts. Otherwise good operation.
T10: Good operation.
T11: Beamline running and checked beam profiles with CLOUD.
East Area Users Tour de Table
T8 Main: IRRAD/CHARM (S. Fiore & F. Ravotti)
Good week, no issue with operation. Weekly intensity level close to the target value (~1.9e16 p/w, see plot below) Beam alignment and center on both X- and Y-axis was very good (e.g. number of spills centered within +/- 2mm): ~>96%.
During the access on Wednesday, in IRRAD we exchanged the dosimetry and installed new experiments for LHCb (optical fibers, calorimerty cristal samples for very short irradiations during the week). The cryostat and long-term experiments in Zone 3 continue. In CHARM we installed a new setup from TE-MPE while BE-CEM continues testing. After the access and the resart of the beam operation we experience now problems with the IRRAD-BPM devices now under investigation (missing data in OPWT).
T9 Main: ALICE PHOS (Mikhail Ippolitov)
With new FEC_32 readout card were measured:
-energy resolution in energy range 0.5-5 GeV for 2 calorimeters first with Hamamatsu 10x10 mm area APD and second with small area Hamamatsu 3x3 mm MPPC
-time resolution, we have got ~200 ps@ 1 GeV deposited energy in crystal.
FEC_32 perfectly works and complies ALICE/PHOS requirements.
Plans:
continue data taking with calorimeter equipped with large area MPPC in 0.5-5 GeV
Go to high energy 10 GeV, 7 GeV
Some problems with CEDAR (two times-26.09 and 27.09) - can’t load beam file. Computer reboot dosn’t help.
T9 Incoming Main: OREO - Week 40 (Stefano Carsi)
Beamtime: 4 October 2023 - 11 October 2023
Goal: Test a prototype of ultra-compact electromagnetic calorimeter based on oriented crystals
Beam request: Low-divergence wide-profile tertiary electron beam at 6 GeV (The beam used for STORM and Techno-CLS are fine)
What is needed in the area
- XSCA and Desy Table
- A couple of regular tables for daq PC
- A rack
- Screws to fix the first beam chamber after XCET48 (see next slides)
- Both of the Čerenkov threshold detectors will be used
No magnets are needed!
T10 Outgoing Main: BL4S (Berare Göktürk, Martin Schwinzerl, Sarah Zoechling, Markus Joos)
We have safely moved out and already progressed with our data analysis. The XCET043 seems to not operate well with He and also just much more noisy compared to the high pressure one, and also not as efficient at low pressures.
We(BL4S team and all the stufents) are very thankful for Maarten van Dijk, Jocelyn Tan, Dragoslav Lazic and Eva Barbara Holzer for all the help they have provided.
T10 Main: ALICE ITS3 (Paolo Martinengo)
Istalled as planned
safety clearance at 15:00, taking data since then
perfect beam
T10 Incoming Main: ALICE RICH - Week 40 (Nicola Mazziotta)
Beam time 4-18 Oct, 2023
Goal: R&D for ALICE3 experiment studies for a RICH prototype equipped
with aerogel radiator and SiPM photosensors. Characterization of SiPM sensors and related readout electronics in particular with respect to response to single photon-electron and timing properties.
Set-up: The prototype consists of a Al cylinder with aerogel and SiPM arrays;
upstream/downstream plastic scintillator fingers for external triggering purpose and 2 X-Y fiber tracker module (upstream/downstream) for beam monitor position and tracking.
ISIEC submitted (ID 1087); safety inspection booked at 4PM on Oct 4, 2023.
T10 Incoming Parallel: EIC dRICH - Week 40 (M. Contalbrigo)
Beam time from October 4 to October 18.
Goal: test a dual-radiator RICH prototype with an extended SiPM readout plane.
The dRICH prototype has been tested in August on the same beam line with a reference detector based on multi-anode PMTs and MAROC readout chip. Due to the strong magnetic field expected at EIC, novel sensor types should be validated for Cherenkov application. The new readout unit comprises arrays of SiPM covering a 5x5 cm2 area, and ALCOR readout chips.
T11 Main: CLOUD (Eva Sommer)
CLOUD setup is largely finished - started data taking on Tuesday. Everything is going well so far. We are already taking very interesting data of a chemical system that seems to be very sensitive to ion concentrations.
AWAKE (Giovanni Zevi Della Porta)
Week mainly dedicated to electron beam commissioning:
- Commissioned new optics for focus in plasma cell
- Orthogonal steering with new corrector
- Measurements of Earth’s B field effect on trajectory
Other activities: CV in TCV4 for pipe measurements, GSM connectors in TSG41/TSG4, cleaning of TAG41 and control room
Next steps: 2 weeks to go before proton run. Contractor visits for plasma source (this week) and laser (next week). Installing more cameras for plasma light.
North Area Beam Status
Overall: Issue with CO2 gas delivery Sunday night, an automatic switch to the backup gas battery did not work. New stand-by service in place, but TI control room did not know the phone number. Now again communicated and operation teams made aware.
Beamlines H2, H4, H6, H8 (D. Banerjee)
H2: Normal operation.
H4: Normal operation.
H6: One fault in QUAD.041.434. Found to be caused by the repeated switches to the ion cycle in the SPS, but easily reset. Caused a bigger beam spot in H6 for one night.
H8: Single fault in QUAD.042.320, caused large beam for around two hours.
Beamlines P42-K12 and M2 (D. Banerjee)
M2: Hadron beam tests by AMBER and MUonE for +100 GeV/c and -100 GeV/c on Wednesday. Alignment checks done for these beam. Good operation.
P42/K12: Very few magnet trips, but overall good operation. Some delays due to late patrols of TCC8 and galleries. Vacuum degradation test successfully done, useful to define now limits for vacuum operation in P42 with respect to radiation protection and beam instrumentation performance.
North Area Users Tour de Table
Beamlines P42-K12 and M2
K12-P42 Main: NA62 (Alina Kleimenova)
Smooth data taking until the end, with a few hiccups:
- Friday, after the MD, we could not restart data taking for about 1h because patrol was needed in TCC8
- The CO2 problem on Sunday cost us ~8h of beam time
- Monday, after the MD, we also could not restart data taking for about 1h40 due to a few issues: access opened without request, a patrol was needed in GL811, and an access magnet issue (piquet called).
- Tuesday LHC filling from 8 am to ~1pm, also during the night with no beam for NA.
- Wednesday, we had a CEDAR-H diaphragm scan, which we were able to finish around midnight(took longer than expected due to LHC filling). We also had the same issue with access opened without request.
We are very grateful for all the help and support from the SPS experts and operators. Thank you very much!
M2 Main: AMBER (Maxim Alexeev & Moritz Veit)
Over the week we have put in operation all the available equipment.
- The measurement was conducted with all the expected beam configurations.
- We have faced a very challenging situation in the last days when the LHC filling had been conducted. Our program consisted of a series of measurement and a bit random refills made it quite challenging forcing us to reduce some of the expected statistics.
Nevertheless, we consider to have concluded our measurements.
We would like to express again our gratitude to those that helped us both during the preparation, safety implementation and operation of the beam and spectrometer. Special thanks to Dipanwita who again made it possible to have a successful data taking.
Our spectrometer is now going to the winter mode, we should be in the safe mode (Hydrogen removed from the TPC) within today.
See You next year.
H2
H2 Main: NA61 SHINE (Piotr Podlaski)
- susscesfull PSD calibration run, we did all we planned
- we are currently setting up our detector for Pb beam:
- if we get the beam today we will be able to commision our hadron calorimeter in advance
- beamline modification scheduled for tomorrow (Friday):
- vacuum modification
- installation of big He tube
- after the beam is back tomorrow, we continue setup and commisioning with the beam, followed by physics data taking
H4
H4 Main: CMS HGCAL (Arnaud Steen)
2 weeks of beam test
During the first 5 days we tested 4 different silicon modules with electron and muon beam. DAQ with single module teststand.
Then we switched to test of 2 module sinchronously with the full HGCAL electronic chain (1st time). We tested the modules with electron muon and pion beam.
H4 Incoming Main: PAN - Week 40 (Please Add Your Name Here)
H6
H6 Main: ATLAS ITK PIXEL (Please Add Your Name Here)
H6 Parallel: ATLAS BCM PRIME (Please Add Your Name Here)
H6 Parallel: CMS MTD ETL (Roberta Arcidiacono)
Setup in PPE156 removed this morning. RP measurements performed.
This was a very successful testbeam run, despite the fact that the DUTs and the DAQ system were available only a few days before the start. We had to spend some time in commissioning the DAQ itself. Nevertheless we managed to collect enough data, with three devices (ETROC2 + LGADs) well aligned, to obtain detailed studies of the ETROC2 chip performance. DAC threshold scans performed (chip discriminator). Data taken in “low” and “high power” mode. Eudet tracker not integrated.
H8
H8 Parallel: STI (Please Add Your Name Here)
H8 Parallel: LHCB (L. Martinazzoli)
Very positive interaction with the many parallel users, thanks a lot to them. Moreover, thanks to the beam experts for their support and coordination effort!
We managed to carry on successfully the physics program of both Sci-Fi and RICH.
Currently, we are dismounting all set-ups in PPE 138 and PPE 168. Furthermore, we have scheduled the necessary visits from RP personnel and the crane operators for today.
H8 Incoming Main: VLAST - Week 40 (Jingjing Zang)
- Beam Time: 2023/10/02 to 2023/10/09-08:00 am
- Sensitive Detectors of VLAST:
- Goals: Z measurement, quench effect, Validate MC simulation
- Beam Requirements: Low Intensity: <1KHz, A/Z=2~2.5, Z as high as possible
- Infrastructure Requirements: 3-4 tables in the beam zone for DAQ-PCs and NIM Crates.
- Questions: Beam Files? need a small space(15m^2) for storage of our equipment after H8 beam test, 887/R-Q23? Michael Lazzaroni agreed but need to rearrange the stuff to optimize the space.
H8 Main: CMS MTD BTL (Giulia Sorrentino)
Parasitic Users
M2: MUONE (Please Add Your Name Here)
H4: RE44 HERD (Yongwei DONG)
More night shifts were transfered by CMS team last week. HERD took about 180 runs and about 8 M triggers at SPS-H4 in the last two weeks. 300GeV protons, 150&250 GeV muons were taken for MIP calib. and cross-calibration. Electrons with 20~250 GeV were taken at different positions of the calorimeter and at different incident angles for 3-d reconstruction and PID preparing.
Preliminary data analysis shows that the IsCMOS cameras well reconstructed the particle energy. An energy resolution of 2.3%@200GeV was achieved w/o detailed cross-calibrations inside the camera.
Thanks to the CMS HGCAL team again for the sharing of SPS proton beam time! Otherwise the validation of optimized design of HERD calorimeter would not be possible.
Plan next week:
Keep the sub-detectors inside H4, and take ion beam as parasitic user in WEEK Oct. 2nd. To check PID performances by using Deuterium and to check Z performances by using A/Z=2.2 configuration.
H6: ATLAS AFP TOF (Please Add Your Name Here)
H8: TOTEM PPS (F. Garcia)
Two detector packages were fully tested and they are left in the Roman pot staation for further tests in case of needs.
Many thanks for all the crew services of the NA for their fast actions when it was required.
H8: STRAW TRACKER RD (Please Add Your Name Here)
H8: CMS RPC (Please Add Your Name Here)
T10 Incoming: EIC DRICH - Week 40 (Please Add Your Name Here)
AoB
Minutes by the respective speakers, edited by E. B. Holzer, M. Jaekel, and M. Schwinzerl
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