In the new era of HL-LHC experiments, fast-timing detectors are emerging as critical tools for background rejection. Typical requirements include a temporal hit resolution of about 50 ps, a spatial resolution of around 12 & micro;m, and radiation hardness up to 10(17) n(eq)/cm(2). To address these challenges, the development of non-standard sensor designs and advanced fast readout electronics is required. The OPTIMA multichannel board addresses the need for testing small sensor demonstrators when they cannot yet be bonded to dedicated readout ASICs. It provides fast readout of up to 16 channels and can be integrated into various test setups, including test beam environments. This contribution presents the design of the OPTIMA board, its integration in test beams, and the first experimental results.

High-energy physics experiments make use of large magnets to bend particle trajectories and thus allow their identification. These magnets, very often custom-built, necessitate an accurate mapping of the generated magnetic field and, in some cases, online monitoring. In both cases, a large number of 3D magnetic field sensors is required, in the order of tens and sometimes hundreds. This article presents the development of an implementation of a 3D Hall sensor card, featuring a custom printed circuit board with a 24-bit Delta Sigma analog-to-digital converter, a microcontroller supporting CANopen communication, readout electronics, and an innovative and cost-effective 3-dimensional assembly of the Hall sensor elements, compatible with medium-scale production of up to 200 cards. Initial measurements demonstrate the benefits of the new assembly method and confirm the reliability of the electronic readout in strong magnetic fields up to 1 T. The calibration of the Hall sensor card shows a magnetic field strength measurement precision of 8.8 x 10-5 T, and angular measurement precisions of 0.083 degrees (polar angle) and 0.666 degrees (azimuthal angle). These results were validated at field strengths of 0.225 T, 0.45 T, and 0.675 T. The findings highlight the potential for ongoing optimization and validation in stronger fields up to 4 T.

A high-quality, low-cost ventilator, dubbed HEV, has been developed by the particle physics community working together with biomedical engineers and physicians around the world. The HEV design is suitable for use both in and out of hospital intensive care units, provides a variety of modes and is capable of supporting spontaneous breathing and supplying oxygen-enriched air. An external air supply can be combined with the unit for use in situations where compressed air is not readily available. HEV supports remote training and post market surveillance via a Web interface and data logging to complement standard touch screen operation, making it suitable for a wide range of geographical deployment. The HEV design places emphasis on the ventilation performance, especially the quality and accuracy of the pressure curves, reactivity of the trigger, measurement of delivered volume and control of oxygen mixing, delivering a global performance which will be applicable to ventilator needs beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. This article describes the conceptual design and presents the prototype units together with a performance evaluation.

The LHCb VELO Upgrade I, currently being installed for the 2022 start of LHC Run 3, uses silicon microchannel coolers with internally circulating bi-phase CO2 for thermal control of hybrid pixel modules operating in vacuum. This is the largest scale application of this technology to date. Production of the microchannel coolers was completed in July 2019 and the assembly into cooling structures was completed in September 2021. This article describes the R & D path supporting the microchannel production and assembly and the motivation for the design choices, together with the achieved fluidic and thermal performance. The Thermal Figure of Merit of the microchannel coolers is measured on the final modules to be between 1.5 and 3.5 K cm(2) W-1, depending on glue thickness. The microchannel coolers constitute 18% of the total radiation length of the VELO and less than 2% of the material seen before the second measured point on the tracks. Microchannel cooling is well suited to the VELO implementation due to the uniform mass distribution, close thermal expansion match with the module components and resistance to radiation.

In this Snowmass contribution we present a comprehensive status update on the progress and plans for the proposed CODEX-b detector, intended to search for long-lived particles beyond the Standard Model. We review the physics case for the proposal and present recent progress on optimization strategies for the detector and shielding design, as well as the development of new fast and full simulation frameworks. A summary of the technical design for a smaller demonstrator detector (CODEX-$\beta$) for the upcoming Run~3 of the LHC is also discussed, alongside the road towards realization of the full experiment at the High-Luminosity LHC.

This document presents the physics case and ancillary studies for the proposed CODEX-b long-lived particle (LLP) detector, as well as for a smaller proof-of-concept demonstrator detector, CODEX- β , to be operated during Run 3 of the LHC. Our development of the CODEX-b physics case synthesizes ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ theoretical approaches, providing a detailed survey of both minimal and complete models featuring LLPs. Several of these models have not been studied previously, and for some others we amend studies from previous literature: In particular, for gluon and fermion-coupled axion-like particles. We moreover present updated simulations of expected backgrounds in CODEX-b’s actively shielded environment, including the effects of shielding propagation uncertainties, high-energy tails and variation in the shielding design. Initial results are also included from a background measurement and calibration campaign. A design overview is presented for the CODEX- β demonstrator detector, which will enable background calibration and detector design studies. Finally, we lay out brief studies of various design drivers of the CODEX-b experiment and potential extensions of the baseline design, including the physics case for a calorimeter element, precision timing, event tagging within LHCb, and precision low-momentum tracking.

A prototype particle tracking telescope was constructed using Timepix and Medipix ASIC hybrid pixel assemblies as the six sensing planes. Each telescope plane consisted of one 1.4cm2 assembly, providing a 256 ×256 array of 55μm square pixels. The telescope achieved a pointing resolution of 2.4μm at the position of the device under test. During a beam test in 2009 the telescope was used to evaluate in detail the performance of two Timepix hybrid pixel assemblies; a standard planar 300μm thick sensor, and 285μm thick double sided 3D sensor. This paper describes a charge calibration study of the pixel devices, which allows the true charge to be extracted, and reports on measurements of the charge collection characteristics and Landau distributions. The planar sensor achieved a best resolution of 4.0±0.1μm for angled tracks, and resolutions of between 4.4 and 11μm for perpendicular tracks, depending on the applied bias voltage. The double sided 3D sensor, which has significantly less charge sharing, was found to have an optimal resolution of 9.0±0.1μm for angled tracks, and a resolution of 16.0±0.2μm for perpendicular tracks. Based on these studies it is concluded that the Timepix ASIC shows an excellent performance when used as a device for charged particle tracking.

A series of tests in CERN’s North Area beam facility have been used to demonstrate the suitability of the Timepix chip, combined with a silicon sensor, as a particle tracking device. Specifically of interest is the potential of a successor to the current chip to be used in the context of an LHCb VELO upgrade. The 55mm square pixels, large active fraction and analogue information make the chip very attractive for forward, high precision tracking systems such as the VELO. In this contribution preliminary results are presented showing the resolution achieved by a Timepix assembly in a 120GeV p beam, over a wide range of incident angles. At the optimum angle the detector was able to provide an unbiased track residual of 5.5mm. The telescope constructed for these measurements contributed a track extrapolation error of 2.5mm. The plans for a future development of this telescope, also based on Timepix assemblies are discussed, with proposals for upgrading its spatial and timing resolution.

The LHCb experiment is dedicated to precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of B hadrons at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva). The initial configuration and expected performance of the detector and associated systems, as established by test beam measurements and simulation studies, is described.