Aerogel RICH Counter at the Belle II Detector

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel aerogel-based RICH detector for Belle II, demonstrating effective particle separation and successful operation in a high-energy collider environment, contributing significantly to particle identification in the experiment.

Contribution

Introduction of a multilayer focusing aerogel RICH detector for the Belle II experiment, enhancing particle identification capabilities in the forward region.

Findings

Achieved effective separation of pions, kaons, and protons from 0.5 to 4 GeV/c.

Successfully operated in data-taking, contributing to 600/fb of collision data.

Demonstrated reliable performance in a high-energy physics environment.

Abstract

We report on the design, operation, and performance of a novel proximity-focusing Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector equipped with a multilayer focusing aerogel radiator, developed for the forward region of the Belle II spectrometer at the SuperKEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. The system achieves effective separation of charged pions, kaons, and protons across the full kinematic range of the experiment, from 0.5 GeV/c to 4 GeV/c. To date, the detector has successfully operated in data-taking, contributing to the collection and analysis of nearly 600/fb of Belle II $e^+e^-$ collision data.