Speaker
Description
The Barrel DIRC (Detection of internally reflected Cherenkov light)
detector is a key component of the particle identification system for
the PANDA experiment, designed to provide at least 3 standard deviations
of separation between charged pions and kaons up to at least 3.5 GeV/c
for the polar angle range of 22 to 140 degrees.
The detector consists of 16 optically independent sectors. Each sector comprises a bar box and a readout box.
One bar box contains 3 radiator bars, each consisting of 2 synthetic
fused silica bars of 120 cm length glued end-to-end and a flat mirror at
the forward end of each bar. A three-layer spherical lens focuses the Cherenkov photons
on the rear surface of a 30 cm-deep fused silica expansion volume, equipped with
8 microchannel-plate photomultiplier tubes (MCP-PMTs), read out
using fast FPGA-based electronics.
Following the completion of the Technical Design Report in 2017, the
component series production started in 2019. The DIRC radiator bars were fabricated by
Nikon Corp., Japan in 2020/21.
While the detailed quality assurance measurements are ongoing at GSI, the focus
is now on the mechanical design and assembly procedure.
A method to glue the DIRC bars to each other and to the lens has been
developed and prototypes of the container for the DIRC bars and the prism
expansion volume have been produced by industry from low-Z material.
The goal is to build a vertical slice of one Barrel DIRC
sector in preparation for a possible beam test in 2026.
| Primary experiment | PANDA at FAIR |
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