An instrumented absorber detector for hadronic interaction measurements : (The Smart Absorber of Crysbeam project)

The CRYSBEAM project proposed to use the same technique to create a new concept of parasitic extractor of high-energy particles from the beam of a particle accelerator. In other words, one or more bent crystals, trapping particles on the inside of the crystal lattice plane, replace the massive magnetic kickers.One of the possibilities offered from this type of beam manipulation is to conduct an experiment related to the study of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays in the Earth’s high atmosphere.High energy (TeV) protons or ions, extracted from the beams by the bent crystal, are forwarded to a chosen target only when lattice planes and the direction of the incoming particle are parallel.The target is our detector, the Smart Absorber, which simulates the Earth’s atmosphere by means of interchangeable layers of carbon or tungsten, where the particle interacts and yields a secondary shower.Alternating layers of Cherenkov detectors allow reconstructing of the shower’s development and lead the way to measure the hadronic cross section of incoming particles at energy similar to high-energy cosmic rays. The Smart Absorber is an essential part of CRYSBEAM.A 64 channels digitizer system, based on WaveCatcher boards, connected via 480-Mbits/s USB interface to a PC running the WaveCatcher’s acquisition software, is the readout of the system and enables to measure coincidences between the layers of Smart Absorber.A first version of the detector, with only 3 Cherenkov layers, was used on the first LEMMA (Low EMittance Muon Accelerator) test beam, at the H4 beamline at CERN North experimental area, to separate muons from electrons. A complete version of the detector will be put in test in July 2018.