Browsing by Author "Nkadimeng, Edward Khomotso"

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    Reliability testing and upgrade of a low voltage power supply for the front-end electronics of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Phase-II Upgrade
    (2022) Nkadimeng, Edward Khomotso
    The LHC is planned to deliver five times the nominal instantaneous luminosity in the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). To address the projected greater detector occupancies and harsher radiation environment at the HL-LHC, considerable upgrades to most of the ATLAS detector sub-systems are required. The Phase-II Upgrade is planned to last approximately three years and is scheduled for 2026-2029. The ATLAS Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) will require the complete replacement of the readout electronics in order to accommodate its acquisition system to the increased radiation levels, trigger rates, and high pile-up conditions during the HL-LHC period. The Phase-II upgraded readout electronics will digitize the PMT signals from every TileCal cell for every bunch crossing and will transmit them directly to the off-detector electronics. In the counting rooms, the off-detector electronics will store the calorimeter signals in pipe-lined buffers while transmitting reconstructed trigger objects to the first level of trigger at 40 MHz. The replacement of the on-detector and off-detector read-out electronics for increased resolution, trigger performance, and radiation tolerance for the HL-LHC operation conditions is a major part of the Phase-II TileCal upgrading activities. The TileCal upgrade project has undergone an extensive research and development program as well as several test beam campaigns. Wits University’s Institute for Collider Particle Physics is responsible for 50% (1024 units) of the total upgrade low voltage power supply transformer-coupled buck converter (Bricks) that delivers 10 V to the front end system. In the year 2022, a large-scale production and testing is planned for around 1024 radiation-tolerant power supplies with the same output voltage. The LVPS Brick V7.5.0 currently installed within the Tile Calorimeter will be completely replaced as part of this production. The LVPS Bricks are located within the TileCal’s inner barrel and their operational reliability is off critical importance. As a result, performance screening will be implemented, which will include testing and certification of all LVPS Bricks manufactured. Radiation tests for Total Ionizing Dose (TID), Non-Ionizing Energy Losses (NIEL), and Single Event Effects (SEE) were also carried out to evaluate the radiation tolerance strategies used in the design and to qualify the LVPS Brick for the HL-LHC requirements, as per the ATLAS policy on radiation tolerant electronics.