The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH) of the AMS experiment

F. Barao , M. Aguilar Benitez , J. Alcaraz , L. Arruda , A. Barrau (1) , G. Barreira , E. Belmont , J. Berdugo , M. Brinet (1) , M. Buénerd (1) , D. Casadei , J. Casaus , E. Cortina , C. Delgado , C. Diaz , L. Derome (1) , L. Eraud (1) , R.J. Garcia-Lopez , L. Gallin-Martel (1) , F. Giovacchini , P. Goncalves , E. Lanciotti , G. Laurenti , A. Malinine , C. Mana , J. Marin , Gines Martinez Garcia , A. Menchaca-Rocha , M. Molla , C. Palomares , M. Panniello , R. Pereira , M. Pimenta , K. Protasov (1) , E. Sanchez , E.S. Seo , N. Sevilla , A. Torrento , M. Vargas-Trevino (1) , O. Véziant (1)

1 LPSC - Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment to be installed on the International Space Station (ISS) will be equipped with a proximity focusing Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector for measuring the electric charge and velocity of the charged cosmic particles. A RICH prototype consisting of 96 photomultiplier units, including a piece of the conical reflector, was built and its performance evaluated with ion beam data. Preliminary results of the in-beam tests performed with ion fragments resulting from collisions of a 158 GeV/c/nuc primary beam of Indium ions (CERN SPS) on a Pb target are reported. The collected data included tests to the final front-end electronics and to different aerogel radiators. Cherenkov rings for a large range of charged nuclei and with reflected photons were observed. The data analysis confirms the design goals. Charge separation up to Fe and velocity resolution of the order of 0.1% for singly charged particles are obtained.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

F. Barao, M. Aguilar Benitez, J. Alcaraz, L. Arruda, A. Barrau, et al.. The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH) of the AMS experiment. 19th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2005), Aug 2005, Pune, India. pp.349-352. ⟨in2p3-00025375⟩