Professor Todd Huffman

Abstract:

The LHC luminosity upgrade, known as the HL-LHC, will require high-speed optical links to read out data from the detectors. Such links must be capable of withstanding high doses whilst being kept at low temperatures. Two single-mode and two multi-mode fibres were exposed to 200 kGy(Si) at a dose rate of about 700 Gy(Si)/hr, whilst being kept at about -25°C. The radiation induced attenuation of these fibres was measured as the fibres accumulated dose. A conservative estimate has been made of the total attenuation expected for a realistic fibre route through the ATLAS detector after a lifetime dose at the HL-LHC. With safety factors, the maximum dose extrapolated to was 375 kGy(Si). All four fibres performed extremely well and were qualified for use at HL-LHC detectors.

Abstract:

We search for high-mass resonances decaying into Z boson pairs using data corresponding to 6 fb^-1 collected by the CDF experiment in p\bar{p} collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV. The search is performed in three distinct final states: ZZ --> l^+l^-l^+l^-, ZZ --> l^+l^-\nu\nu, and ZZ --> l^+l^-jj. For a Randall-Sundrum graviton G*, the 95% CL upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio to ZZ, sigma(p\bar{p} --> G^* --> ZZ), vary between 0.26 pb and 0.045 pb in the mass range 300 < M_{G*} < 1000 GeV/c^2.

Abstract:

High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) Inner Tracker designs may include the sharing of Timing, Trigger and Control (TTC) signals between several tracker modules. This is possible because the highest frequency signals are common to all modules. Such designs are an attractive option because they reduce the number of optical links required and hence the cost. These designs will require optical signal splitters that are radiation hard up to high doses and capable of operating in cold temperatures. Optical splitters are available as either fused-fibre splitters or Planar Light-wave Circuit (PLC) splitters. PLC splitters are preferable because they are smaller than fused-fibre splitters. A selection of PLC splitters from different manufacturers and of two different technologies (silica and glass based) have been tested for radiation hardness up to a dose of 500 kGy(Si) and for temperature stability. All the tested splitters displayed small increases in insertion losses ( < 0.1 dB) in reducing the operating temperature from 25°C to −25°C. The silica based splitters from all manufacturers did not exhibit significant radiation induced insertion losses, despite the high dose they were exposed to. The glass based sample, however, had a per channel radiation induced insertion loss of up to 1.16 dB. Whilst the silica based splitters can be considered as qualified for HL-LHC use with regards to radiation hardness, the glass technology would require further testing at a lower, more realistic, dose to also be considered as a potential component for HL-LHC upgrade designs.

Abstract:

High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) Inner Tracker designs may include the sharing of Timing, Trigger and Control (TTC) signals between several tracker modules. This is possible because the highest frequency signals are common to all modules. Such designs are an attractive option because they reduce the number of optical links required and hence the cost. These designs will require optical signal splitters that are radiation hard up to high doses and capable of operating in cold temperatures. Optical splitters are available as either fused-fibre splitters or Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) splitters. PLC splitters are preferable because they are smaller than fusedfibre splitters. A selection of PLC splitters from different manufacturers and of two different technologies (silica and glass based) have been tested for radiation hardness up to a dose of 500 kGy(Si) and for temperature stability. All the tested splitters displayed small increases in insertion losses (< 0.1 dB) in reducing the operating temperature from 25°C to ?25°C. The silica based splitters from all manufacturers did not exhibit significant radiation induced insertion losses, despite the high dose they were exposed to. The glass based sample, however, had a per channel radiation induced insertion loss of up to 1.16 dB. Whilst the silica based splitters can be considered as qualified for HL-LHC use with regards to radiation hardness, the glass technology would require further testing at a lower, more realistic, dose to also be considered as a potential component for HL-LHC upgrade designs. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.