A. Schmier | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Recent test beam results of ATLAS ITk Pixel sensors and modules

Test beam studies of ITk pixel sensors and full modules are an essential tool for assessing their performance and operational behavior. In the 2025 test beam campaigns, quad and triplet modules equipped with both pre-production and production readout chips were evaluated. For the first time, triplet modules were tested in beam conditions, both before and after irradiation. Measurements were performed at multiple incident angles to study charge-collection efficiency under conditions representative of actual detector operation. The 2025 test beam dataset contains several important new elements, enabling further progress toward the full qualification of ITk pixel modules. This work presents an overview of the ITk pixel test beam program including recent triplet module results from the 2025 campaigns.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2026

Large-scale real-time signal processing in physics experiments: The ALICE TPC FPGA pipeline

For LHC Run 3, the ALICE Time Projection Chamber was upgraded to operate in continuous readout mode. Interaction rates of up to 50 kHz in Pb-Pb collisions require real-time processing of more than 3 TB/s of raw detector data. This requirement is met by a custom FPGA-based processing pipeline that performs the complete front-end data treatment fully in-stream, including common-mode correction, pedestal subtraction, ion-tail filtering, zero suppression, and dense data packing. A central element of the design is a highly parallel common-mode correction algorithm operating directly on the streaming data. It robustly identifies signal-free readout channels on a time-bin basis and applies pad-dependent scaling to compensate for local variations in capacitive coupling in the GEM readout. In combination with pedestal subtraction and ion-tail filtering, this enables accurate baseline restoration under extreme high-occupancy conditions, preventing signal loss while efficiently suppressing noise prior to zero suppression. The pipeline operates continuously at the full detector bandwidth and reduces the raw input rate to about 900 GB/s for Pb-Pb collisions at the target interaction rate. Overall, it represents a large-scale FPGA-based real-time signal-processing implementation for high-energy physics detector readout.

physics.ins-det↗