Integrazione della catena elettronica del tracciatore interno CGEM

BESIII (BEijing Spectrometer) is a high-precision spectrometer operated at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPCII). The inner drift chamber is suffering from ageing and plans have been made to replace it as data collection is expected to continue until at least 2030. An innovative CGEM (Cylindrical Gas Electron Multiplier) was proposed by the Italian BESIII teamwork and supported by a Chinese-European collaboration. Two of the three layers of the CGEM-IT have already been built and are in operation in Beijing since November 2019. Due to the pandemic, they can only be controlled remotely. For the same reason, the task of integrating the detector and electronics had to be reorganised and diversified. Four GEM planar detectors were set up at INFN-Ferrara to study the performance of the whole readout chain in detecting cosmic rays. For the same purpose, a test beam was run at CERN in July 2021. For the readout of the CGEM detector, a novel system was developed using a new ASIC called TIGER (Torino Integrated GEM Electronics for Readout) to amplify and digitise the output signals from the CGEM. The data output from TIGER is collected and processed by an FPGA-based module, GEM Read Out Card (GEMROC), which is responsible for configuring and controlling the front-end ASICs. After presenting the experiment (Chapter 1) and the electronic chain (Chapter 2), my thesis focuses on the contributions I made to the integration of the electronic readout. In particular, I conducted a test campaign to investigate the relationship between the charge measured by TIGER and the working temperature (Chapter 3), and I developed a tool for the generation of test signals to support the debugging and validation process of the GEMROC firmware (Chapter 4). I also participated in the July 2021 test beam at CERN (Chapter 5), which collected a huge amount of data (250 million triggers). To assist in evaluating metrics of interest, I developed a Montecarlo tool to analyse the readout contributions that degrade the resolution of the planar GEM detector (Chapter 6). During my research, I participated in shifts to remotely operate the CGEM-IT detector in Beijing. To ensure safe operation, a hardware interlock system is being set up to manage circuit breakers and prevent accidental damage to both the detector and electronics. To this end, I conducted a preliminary study using Controllino, an industry-grade PLC ( Programming Logic Controller ) with open-source software that is fully compatible with Arduino (Chapter 7).