Speaker
Description
The Highly Granular Neutron Detector (HGND) is being developed for the BM@N (Baryonic Matter at Nuclotron) experiment on the extracted beam of the Nuclotron (JINR, Dubna). The HGND will be used to measure the neutron yields in energy range 300 – 4000 MeV as well as azimuthal asymmetry of neutron flow in nucleus-nucleus collisions at beam energies of 2–4 AGeV. At these energies, nuclear density reaches 2–4 times the normal value, comparable to conditions during merging of neutron stars. The dependence of the equation of state of dense nuclear matter on the term characterizing the isospin (proton-neutron) asymmetry of nuclear matter will he studied using the HGND.
The HGND consists of two arms, each containing 8 layers of plastic scintillator arrays with copper absorber plates in between. Each scintillation layer is composed of an 11×11 matrix of individual cells with size 40×40×25 mm³ equipped with an individual light readout using EQR15 11-6060D-S photodetectors.
Currently, one fully assembled scintillator layer of the HGND with 33 readout channels has been constructed. This prototype layer matches the final detector design, featuring a readout system with developed 100 ps FPGA-based TDC (Time-to-Digital Converter), a time synchronization system based on White Rabbit, and FEE (Front-End Electronics) control. Performance tests demonstrate a channel time resolution of ~150 ps and confirm integration compatibility with BM@N readout and control systems.
Details of the detector design, development status, and performance studies will be presented.
