Aging Study on Resistive Plate Chambers of the CMS Muon Detector for HL-LHC

TL;DR

This study investigates the aging effects on CMS Resistive Plate Chambers under HL-LHC conditions by exposing detectors to high gamma radiation and monitoring their parameters over time.

Contribution

It provides the first long-term aging analysis of RPC detectors under simulated HL-LHC background conditions.

Findings

Preliminary results show detector parameters remain stable after high gamma exposure.

The study assesses the longevity of RPCs for future HL-LHC operations.

Data supports the potential for RPCs to operate reliably during HL-LHC runs.

Abstract

In the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) program, during the next years, the instantaneous luminosity will increase up to 5 $\times$ 10$^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ which means a factor five higher than the nominal LHC. In that period, the present CMS Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) system will be subjected to background rates higher than those for which the detectors have been designed, which could affect the detector properties and induce aging effects. To study whether the present RPC system can sustain the hard background conditions during the HL-LHC running period, a dedicated longevity test is ongoing at the CERN Gamma Irradiation Facility, where a few spare RPCs are exposed to high gamma radiation for a long term period to mimic the HL-LHC operational conditions. During the longevity test, the main detector parameters are continuously monitored as a function of the integrated charge. Preliminary results of the study, after having collected a sufficient amount of the expected integrated charge at HL-LHC, will be presented.