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| ATLAS TILECAL | |
|---|---|
| Name | TILECAL |
| Caption | Central hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment |
| Location | CERN |
| Affiliation | ATLAS experiment |
| First data | 2009 |
| Type | Sampling calorimeter |
| Technology | Scintillator tiles and steel absorbers |
| Energy range | GeV–TeV |
ATLAS TILECAL is the central hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. It is a steel–scintillator sampling calorimeter designed to measure hadronic showers produced in collisions recorded by ATLAS detector and to provide jet energy, missing transverse energy, and trigger information used in analyses by collaborations such as ATLAS Collaboration. TILECAL interfaces with subsystem projects and organizations including CERN Computing Centre, European Organization for Nuclear Research, and participating institutes across United Kingdom, France, Germany, and beyond.
TILECAL is situated in the central barrel region of the ATLAS detector, surrounding the Inner Detector and inside the magnet environment of the calorimeter. It complements the Liquid Argon Calorimeter electromagnetic sections and the ATLAS endcap calorimeters, providing hermetic coverage and contributing to global event reconstruction used in measurements such as the Higgs boson searches, top quark studies, and searches for supersymmetry, dark matter, and other beyond-Standard-Model signatures. TILECAL operations interact with experiments like CMS experiment through common accelerator conditions set by Large Hadron Collider operations and with accelerator physics groups including LHCb, ALICE, and CERN Accelerator Beamlines.
The calorimeter is a modular sampling design using steel absorber plates and plastic scintillator tiles with wavelength-shifting fibers read out by photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), developed in collaboration with institutes such as CERN, University of Oxford, University of Manchester, CNRS/IN2P3 laboratories, and the Max Planck Society. Mechanical structure and segmentation follow ATLAS geometry conventions shared with projects like the tile calorimetry concept and integrate with services used by Cryogenics and ATLAS cavern infrastructure. Active components include scintillator tiles, wavelength shifters, light guides, and PMTs similar to components used in experiments such as MINOS, NOvA, and KASCADE, with calibration hardware analogous to systems in DZero and H1.
The detector is segmented into cells and readout channels arranged in azimuthal and longitudinal layers matching trigger towers used by the ATLAS Level-1 trigger and higher-level software triggers like HLT and ATLAS online systems. Mechanical assembly and quality control drew on standards from European Strategy for Particle Physics recommendations and safety protocols coordinated with CERN Safety Commission.
Readout architecture uses front-end electronics for analogue pulse shaping, digitization, and optical transmission to back-end crates in the ATLAS electronics room. Digitizers, preamplifiers, and power supplies were developed with partner laboratories including CERN EP/DT, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermilab, and national institutes in Italy and Spain. The calibration suite includes cesium radioactive source scans, laser systems, and charge injection systems analogous to calibration practices in LHCb calorimetry and ATLAS Tile calorimeter upgrade projects. Calibration procedures provide channel equalization, time alignment with the LHC clock, and monitoring of PMT gain drifts, with integration into conditions databases maintained by CERN IT and analysis frameworks like ROOT and Gaudi.
TILECAL contributes to ATLAS event building through readout links compatible with the ATLAS data acquisition and storage model coordinated with CERN Tier-0 and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid. Performance metrics include energy resolution for single hadrons and jets, timing resolution for pile-up mitigation, and stability under radiation backgrounds studied in coordination with Radiation Hardness Assurance programs and beam monitoring groups such as LHC Beam Loss Monitors. Performance results guided physics objects used in analyses by the ATLAS Collaboration addressing channels involving W boson, Z boson, and Higgs boson decays, and searches for exotic particles.
Prototype modules and pre-series components were validated in test-beam campaigns at facilities including the CERN SPS North Area, DESY test beam, and Fermilab Test Beam Facility, with instrumentation and beamlines used by experiments such as CALICE, NA62, and COMPASS. Commissioning integrated TILECAL with the ATLAS combined test beam program, alignment with Muon spectrometer systems, and synchronization with the LHC injector chain during early runs. Test-beam results established calibration constants and validated simulation models implemented in GEANT4 used across collaborations like ATLAS simulation group.
TILECAL data has been essential in ATLAS measurements including inclusive jet spectra, missing transverse energy resolution studies, and characterizing backgrounds in Higgs boson and top quark analyses. Contributions intersect with precision measurements led by collaborations of institutions such as University of Manchester, Università di Napoli Federico II, LAL Orsay, and IFIC Valencia and have supported discoveries and limits reported in coordination with journals like Physical Review Letters, Journal of High Energy Physics, and European Physical Journal C. Calibration and performance studies have informed upgrades and cross-experiment comparisons with CMS calorimetry results and global fits involving Standard Model tests.
Maintenance and upgrade programs have been pursued in phases aligned with the LHC Long Shutdown 1, LHC Long Shutdown 2, and preparations for the High-Luminosity LHC era, involving electronics replacement, radiation-hard components, and improved digitization inspired by projects such as the ATLAS Upgrade and proposals from consortia including CERN RD groups and national laboratories like DESY and INFN. Future plans consider integration with upgraded trigger architecture, enhanced calibration systems, and compatibility with software frameworks such as Athena (software) and computing models coordinated with the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid and CERN Open Data Portal initiatives.