Speaker
Description
The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), currently under development at Brookhaven National Laboratory, will provide unprecedented opportunities to study the internal structure of nucleons and nuclei. To exploit the full potential of the EIC physics program, excellent particle identification (PID) capabilities are required across a wide kinematic range. The ePIC experiment, the primary detector at the EIC, employs a novel Time-of-Flight (TOF) system based on AC-coupled Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (AC-LGADs) to provide precise timing and position measurements for charged particles.
This contribution presents the design, development, and performance of the AC-LGAD TOF detectors for both mid-rapidity (BTOF) and forward (FTOF) regions of ePIC. The AC-LGAD sensors are optimized for large-area coverage with fine segmentation and are capable of achieving a time resolution better than 30 ps and position resolution on the order of 20–30 μm. We discuss the detector layout, sensor characterization, readout electronics development, and the integration challenges within the compact ePIC environment.
The AC-LGAD TOF system represents one of the first large-scale deployments of AC-LGAD technology in a collider environment, and offers a path toward ultra-fast, low-material tracking and timing layers in future high-energy experiments.
