Mariangela Bondì | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Design and characterization of the POKERINO prototype for the POKER/NA64 experiment at CERN

The NA64 experiment at CERN H4 beamline recently started a high-energy positron-beam program to search for light dark matter particles through a thick-target, missing-energy measurement. To fulfil the energy resolution requirement of the physics measurement $σ_E/E\simeq2.5\%/\sqrt{E\mathrm{[GeV}]} \oplus 0.5\%$ and cope with the constraints and performance requests of the NA64 setup, a new high-resolution homogeneous electromagnetic calorimeter PKR-CAL has been designed. The detector is based on PbWO$_4$ crystals, each read by multiple SiPM sensors to maximize the light collection. The PKR-CAL design has been optimized to mitigate and control unavoidable SiPM saturation effects at high light levels, as well as to minimize the gain fluctuations induced by instantaneous variations of the H4 beam intensity. The $R\&D$ program culminated in the construction of a small-scale prototype, POKERINO. In this work, we present the results from the experimental characterization campaign of the POKERINO aiming at demonstrating that the obtained performances are compatible with the application requirements.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Streaming readout for next generation electron scattering experiment

Current and future experiments at the high intensity frontier are expected to produce an enormous amount of data that needs to be collected and stored for offline analysis. Thanks to the continuous progress in computing and networking technology, it is now possible to replace the standard `triggered' data acquisition systems with a new, simplified and outperforming scheme. `Streaming readout' (SRO) DAQ aims to replace the hardware-based trigger with a much more powerful and flexible software-based one, that considers the whole detector information for efficient real-time data tagging and selection. Considering the crucial role of DAQ in an experiment, validation with on-field tests is required to demonstrate SRO performance. In this paper we report results of the on-beam validation of the Jefferson Lab SRO framework. We exposed different detectors (PbWO-based electromagnetic calorimeters and a plastic scintillator hodoscope) to the Hall-D electron-positron secondary beam and to the Hall-B production electron beam, with increasingly complex experimental conditions. By comparing the data collected with the SRO system against the traditional DAQ, we demonstrate that the SRO performs as expected. Furthermore, we provide evidence of its superiority in implementing sophisticated AI-supported algorithms for real-time data analysis and reconstruction.

physics.ins-det↗