KATANA - a charge-sensitive triggering system for the S$\pi$RIT experiment

TL;DR

KATANA is a fast, charge-sensitive trigger system for the S$$RIT experiment's TPC, capable of operating in magnetic fields and providing real-time particle detection and discrimination.

Contribution

The paper introduces the design, construction, and performance evaluation of the KATANA detector, including a new phenomenological model for scintillation photon emission.

Findings

KATANA effectively provides trigger and veto signals based on particle charge and multiplicity.

The detector operates reliably in magnetic fields and under irradiation conditions.

A simple model describes scintillation photon emission in plastic scintillators.

Abstract

KATANA - the Krakow Array for Triggering with Amplitude discrimiNAtion - has been built and used as a trigger and veto detector for the S$\pi$RIT TPC at RIKEN. Its construction allows operating in magnetic field and providing fast response for ionizing particles, giving the approximate forward multiplicity and charge information. Depending on this information, trigger and veto signals are generated. The article presents performance of the detector and details of its construction. A simple phenomenological parametrization of the number of emitted scintillation photons in plastic scintillator is proposed. The effect of the light output deterioration in the plastic scintillator due to the in-beam irradiation is discussed.