The Pixel Luminosity Telescope is a silicon pixel detector dedicated to luminosity measurement at the CMS experiment at the LHC. It is located approximately 1.75 m from the interaction point and arranged into 16 "telescopes", with eight telescopes installed around the beam pipe at either end of the detector and each telescope composed of three individual silicon sensor planes. The per-bunch instantaneous luminosity is measured by counting events where all three planes in the telescope register a hit, using a special readout at the full LHC bunch-crossing rate of 40 MHz. The full pixel information is read out at a lower rate and can be used to determine calibrations, corrections, and systematic uncertainties for the online and offline measurements. This paper details the commissioning, operational history, and performance of the detector during Run 2 (2015-18) of the LHC, as well as preparations for Run 3, which will begin in 2022.
The CMS Inner Tracker, made of silicon pixel modules, will be entirely replaced prior to the start of the High Luminosity LHC period. One of the crucial components of the new Inner Tracker system is the readout chip, being developed by the RD53 Collaboration, and in particular its analogue front-end, which receives the signal from the sensor and digitizes it. Three different analogue front-ends (Synchronous, Linear, and Differential) were designed and implemented in the RD53A demonstrator chip. A dedicated evaluation program was carried out to select the most suitable design to build a radiation tolerant pixel detector able to sustain high particle rates with high efficiency and a small fraction of spurious pixel hits. The test results showed that all three analogue front-ends presented strong points, but also limitations. The Differential front-end demonstrated very low noise, but the threshold tuning became problematic after irradiation. Moreover, a saturation in the preamplifier feedback loop affected the return of the signal to baseline and thus increased the dead time. The Synchronous front-end showed very good timing performance, but also higher noise. For the Linear front-end all of the parameters were within specification, although this design had the largest time walk. This limitation was addressed and mitigated in an improved design. The analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the three front-ends in the context of the CMS Inner Tracker operation requirements led to the selection of the improved design Linear front-end for integration in the final CMS readout chip.
Abstract During the operation of the CMS experiment at the High-Luminosity LHC the silicon sensors of the Phase-2 Outer Tracker will be exposed to radiation levels that could potentially deteriorate their performance. Previous studies had determined that planar float zone silicon with n-doped strips on a p-doped substrate was preferred over p-doped strips on an n-doped substrate. The last step in evaluating the optimal design for the mass production of about 200 m2 of silicon sensors was to compare sensors of baseline thickness (about 300 μm) to thinned sensors (about 240 μm), which promised several benefits at high radiation levels because of the higher electric fields at the same bias voltage. This study provides a direct comparison of these two thicknesses in terms of sensor characteristics as well as charge collection and hit efficiency for fluences up to 1.5 × 1015 neq/cm2. The measurement results demonstrate that sensors with about 300 μm thickness will ensure excellent tracking performance even at the highest considered fluence levels expected for the Phase-2 Outer Tracker.
The high instantaneous luminosities expected following the upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) pose major experimental challenges for the CMS experiment. A central component to allow efficient operation under these conditions is the reconstruction of charged particle trajectories and their inclusion in the hardware-based trigger system. There are many challenges involved in achieving this: a large input data rate of about 20--40 Tb/s; processing a new batch of input data every 25 ns, each consisting of about 15,000 precise position measurements and rough transverse momentum measurements of particles ("stubs''); performing the pattern recognition on these stubs to find the trajectories; and producing the list of trajectory parameters within 4 $\mu\,$s. This paper describes a proposed solution to this problem, specifically, it presents a novel approach to pattern recognition and charged particle trajectory reconstruction using an all-FPGA solution. The results of an end-to-end demonstrator system, based on Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGAs, that meets timing and performance requirements are presented along with a further improved, optimized version of the algorithm together with its corresponding expected performance.
In 2017 a new pixel detector was installed in the CMS detector. This so-called Phase-1 pixel detector features four barrel layers in the central region and three disks per end in the forward regions. The upgraded pixel detector requires an upgraded data acquisition (DAQ) system to accept a new data format and larger event sizes. A new DAQ and control system has been developed based on a combination of custom and commercial microTCA parts. Custom mezzanine cards on standard carrier cards provide a front-end driver for readout, and two types of front-end controller for configuration and the distribution of clock and trigger signals. Before the installation of the detector the DAQ system underwent a series of integration tests, including readout of the pilot pixel detector, which was constructed with prototype Phase-1 electronics and operated in CMS from 2015 to 2016, quality assurance of the CMS Phase-1 detector during its assembly, and testing with the CMS Central DAQ. This paper describes the Phase-1 pixel DAQ and control system, along with the integration tests and results. A description of the operational experience and performance in data taking is included.
A new CMS Tracker is under development for operation at the High Luminosity LHC from 2026 onwards. It includes an outer tracker based on dedicated modules that will reconstruct short track segments, called stubs, using spatially coincident clusters in two closely spaced silicon sensor layers. These modules allow the rejection of low transverse momentum track hits and reduce the data volume before transmission to the first level trigger. The inclusion of tracking information in the trigger decision is essential to limit the first level trigger accept rate. A customized front-end readout chip, the CMS Binary Chip (CBC), containing stub finding logic has been designed for this purpose. A prototype module, equipped with the CBC chip, has been constructed and operated for the first time in a 4 GeV/c positron beam at DESY. The behaviour of the stub finding was studied for different angles of beam incidence on a module, which allows an estimate of the sensitivity to transverse momentum within the future CMS detector. A sharp transverse momentum threshold around 2 GeV/c was demonstrated, which meets the requirement to reject a large fraction of low momentum tracks present in the LHC environment on-detector. This is the first realistic demonstration of a silicon tracking module that is able to select data, based on the particle's transverse momentum, for use in a first level trigger at the LHC . The results from this test are described here.
The high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider, foreseen for 2026, necessitates the replacement of the CMS experiment’s silicon tracker. The innermost layer of the new pixel detector will be exposed to severe radiation, corresponding to a 1 MeV neutron equivalent fluence of up to \(\Phi _{eq} = 2 \times 10^{16}\) cm\(^{-2}\), and an ionising dose of \({\approx } 5\) MGy after an integrated luminosity of 3000 fb\(^{-1}\). Thin, planar silicon sensors are good candidates for this application, since the degradation of the signal produced by traversing particles is less severe than for thicker devices. In this paper, the results obtained from the characterisation of 100 and 200 \(\upmu \)m thick p-bulk pad diodes and strip sensors irradiated up to fluences of \(\Phi _{eq} = 1.3 \times 10^{16}\) cm\(^{-2}\) are shown.
The upgrade of the LHC to the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) is expected to increase the LHC design luminosity by an order of magnitude. This will require silicon tracking detectors with a significantly higher radiation hardness. The CMS Tracker Collaboration has conducted an irradiation and measurement campaign to identify suitable silicon sensor materials and strip designs for the future outer tracker at the CMS experiment. Based on these results, the collaboration has chosen to use n-in-p type silicon sensors and focus further investigations on the optimization of that sensor type. This paper describes the main measurement results and conclusions that motivated this decision.
The degradation of signal in silicon sensors is studied under conditions expected at the CERN High-Luminosity LHC. 200 μm thick n-type silicon sensors are irradiated with protons of different energies to fluences of up to 3 · 1015 neq/cm2. Pulsed red laser light with a wavelength of 672 nm is used to generate electron-hole pairs in the sensors. The induced signals are used to determine the charge collection efficiencies separately for electrons and holes drifting through the sensor. The effective trapping rates are extracted by comparing the results to simulation. The electric field is simulated using Synopsys device simulation assuming two effective defects. The generation and drift of charge carriers are simulated in an independent simulation based on PixelAV. The effective trapping rates are determined from the measured charge collection efficiencies and the simulated and measured time-resolved current pulses are compared. The effective trapping rates determined for both electrons and holes are about 50% smaller than those obtained using standard extrapolations of studies at low fluences and suggest an improved tracker performance over initial expectations.
The response of n(+)p silicon strip sensors to electrons from a Sr-90 source was measured using a multi-channel read-out system with 25 ns sampling time. The measurements were performed over a period of several weeks, during which the operating conditions were varied. The sensors were fabricated by Hamamatsu Photonics on 200 im thick float-zone and magnetic-Czochralski silicon. Their pitch was 80 ifm, and both p-stop and p-spray isolation of the n strips were studied. The electrons from the Sr-90 source were collimated to a spot with a full-width-at-half-maximum of 2 mm at the sensor surface, and the dose rate in the SiO2 at the maximum was about 50 Gy(SiO2)/d. After only a few hours of making measurements, significant changes in charge collection and charge sharing were observed. Annealing studies, with temperatures up to 80 degrees C and annealing times of 18 h showed that the changes can only be partially annealed. The observations can be qualitatively explained by the increase of the positive oxidecharge density due to the ionization of the SiO2 by the radiation from the 13 source. TCAD simulations of the electric field in the sensor for different oxide-charge densities and different boundary conditions at the sensor surface support this explanation. The relevance of the measurements for the design of n'p strip sensors is discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V.
We describe results from a beam test of a telescope consisting of three planes of single-crystal, diamond pixel detectors. This telescope is a prototype for a small-angle luminosity monitor, the Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT), for CMS. We recorded the pixel addresses and pulse heights of all pixels over threshold as well as the fast-or signals from all three telescope planes. We present results on the telescope performance including occupancies, pulse heights, fast-or efficiencies and particle tracking. These results show that the PLT design meets all required specifications.
The Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT) is a dedicated luminosity monitor, presently under construction and planned for installation during the next CMS opening, for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It measures the particle flux in an array of sixteen telescopes each consisting of three layers of pixel diamond detectors. The PLT's single-crystal CVD diamonds are bump-bonded to the PSI46 pixel readout chip - the same readout chip used in the silicon pixel system in CMS. Final hardware and software components have been assembled at CERN. The performance with has been measured this year in beams at the CERN PS, as well as the test beam facility at Fermilab. With respect to charged particle tracking, we also measured the Lorentz angle in a magnetic field at the CERN SPS. We present the results of these studies for the final system.
The Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT) is a dedicated luminosity monitor, presently under construction, for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It measures the particle flux in several three layered pixel diamond detectors that are aligned precisely with respect to each other and the beam direction. At a lower rate it also performs particle track position measurements. The PLT's mono-crystalline CVD diamonds are bump-bonded to the same readout chip used in the silicon pixel system in CMS. Mono-crystalline diamond detectors have many attributes that make them desirable for use in charged particle tracking in radiation hostile environments such as the LHC. In order to further characterize the applicability of diamond technology to charged particle tracking we performed several tests with particle beams that included a measurement of the intrinsic spatial resolution with a high resolution beam telescope.
The Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT) is a dedicated luminosity monitor, presently under construction, for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It measures the particle flux in three layers of pixel diamond detectors that are aligned precisely with respect to each other and the beam direction, utilizing simultaneously performed particle track position measurements. The PLT's single-crystal CVD diamonds are bump-bonded to the PSI46 pixel readout chip - the same readout chip used in the silicon pixel system in CMS. Single-crystal CVD diamond pixel detectors have many attributes that make them desirable for use in charged particle tracking in radiation hostile environments such as the LHC. They are expected to withstand the radiation near the beam pipe over several years at full LHC luminosity with a modest loss of pulse height and no increase of leakage currents. In order to further characterize the applicability of diamond technology to charged particle tracking, the intrinsic spatial resolution of single-crystal CVD diamonds was measured using a high resolution beam telescope developed at the University of Zurich. We present the results of these studies.
The Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT) is an innovative luminosity monitor which is planned as an upgrade for the CMS detector at the LHC. It uses pixelated single-crystal diamonds as the active sensor material bumpbonded to standard CMS pixel readout electronics. The PLT makes use of a presently unused feature of the pixel readout chip which was designed to provide a hit-over-threshold signal to a hardware trigger processor. This feature will produce a bunch crossing ( 25 ns) 'hit' signal that can form the basis of luminosity information at the hardware level. We will report on the first successful use of this 'Fast-Or' signal to self-trigger on beta particles from a source using a diamond pixel detector. Expected performance of the PLT based on Pythia simulations is also detailed.
The Beam Conditions Monitor (BCM) provides fast, relative measurements of particle fluxes for use in the safety systems of CMS. It uses a set of Chemical Vapor Deposited (CVD) diamond diodes. Sudden, order of magnitude changes in the BCM readout issue non-maskable LHC beam aborts. Dangerous irradiation trends on longer timescales translate into automatic detector interlocks and injection inhibit Operators in the LHC beam and CMS detector control room obtain and display real time (1Hz) readout of flux measurements from the BCM subsystem. The beam radiation monitoring system also provides an independent measurement of the beam luminosity. The next generation luminosity detector, called the Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT), is based on pixelated monocrystalline diamond detectors. They provide a fast occupancy information and allow particle tracking near the interaction point to distinguish trajectories originating from the proton-proton collision point and those parallel to the beam pipe. We present the use case of diamond detectors for beam radiation monitoring in CMS and first measurements of 150 GeV/c pi(+) particle tracks in three layers of pixelated diamond detectors. The PLT after installation in 2010 will be the largest utilization of diamond instrumentation in High Energy Physics.
The Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT) system is an innovative luminosity monitor being developed as an early upgrade for the CMS detector at the LHC. An essential feature of the PLT is the use of single crystal diamond, grown by chemical vapor deposition, as the active sensor material. The radiation hardness of diamond, along with its lack of need for active cooling, are key to the design and functioning of the pur. While diamond sensors have been used in several collider experiments, primarily for monitoring of beam conditions, these have mostly been based on poly-crystal diamonds. The PLT will be the first device to rely on the use of a single-crystal diamond and the first to use diamond pixel sensors. We will discuss the important role that a single-crystal diamond will play in the pur operation. We will contrast single-crystal to poly-crystal diamond sensors, provide an overview of the PLT concept, and present results on its performance.
The CMS pixel detector is a complex device consisting of about 1400 modules. The control and the readout systems of this detector will be described. The detector modules have to be correctly set up before data taking can start. This means downloading of a very large number of parameters to the front-ends. During data taking the information from the detector has to be read out and various detector parameters have to be monitored. The readout system has to be very efficient to minimize dead time. A set of fast control signals will be used to reset and re-synchronize the detector.
Inelastic nuclear collisions of hadrons incident on silicon sensors can generate secondary highly ionising particles (HIPs) and deposit as much energy within the sensor bulk as several hundred minimum ionising particles. The large signals generated by these 'HIP events' can momentarily saturate the APV25 front-end readout chip for the silicon strip tracker (SST) sub-detector of the compact muon solenoid (CMS) experiment, resulting in deadtime in the detector readout system. This paper presents studies of this phenomenon through simulation, laboratory measurements and dedicated beam tests. A proposed change to a front-end component to reduce the APV25 sensitivity to HIP events is also examined. The results are used to infer the expected effect on the performance of the CMS SST at the future large hadron collider. The induced inefficiencies are at the percent level and will have a negligible effect on the physics performance of the SST.