Master Thesis Presentation: Synchronization of the ATLAS Hadronic Calorimeter Using the Laser Calibration System
by
Björn Nordkvist(Stockholm University)
→
Europe/Stockholm
FA31
FA31
Description
The ATLAS experiment, currently in the final stage of its construction at the European particle physics laboratory CERN, will search for the Higgs boson and other possible signals from new physics. The goal of the work described in this thesis is to derive and evaluate a method to perform a time synchronization of the ATLAS Hadronic Tile Calorimeter readout electronics. The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is designed to measure the energy of hadrons and jets from the proton-proton collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). A synchronized readout is important for optimal reconstruction of the time and energy of particles traversing the calorimeter and also, to synchronize TileCal with the rest of ATLAS. To achieve the synchronization of TileCal two different methods are developed. One method relies entirely on the programming of the readout electronics, the other method relies partly on programming of the electronics and partly on equalizing the lengths of the optical fibers distributing the clock signals, in such a way that the readout is synchronized. The two methods are outlined and evaluated throughout this thesis. An integrated laser system is used to send simultaneous light pulses to different parts of the calorimeter, allowing for timing diagnostics and calculation of delays used in the two methods.
