Detectors and Electronics for the CBM experiment at FAIR

Abstract

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment is a next-generation heavy-ion experiment under development at the future FAIR facility in Darmstadt, Germany. It is designed to explore the QCD phase diagram at high net-baryon densities with unprecedented precision. Operating in fixed-target mode with a continuous beam of up to 11 AGeV for heavy ions and 26 GeV for protons, CBM will investigate rare probes such as multi-strange hyperons, hypernuclei, and dileptons, aiming to identify signatures of a first-order phase transition and the QCD critical point. To achieve these goals, CBM employs a free-streaming, self-triggered readout architecture and a suite of radiation-hard, low-mass detectors capable of operating at interaction rates up to 10 MHz. The experimental set-up consists of several detector subsystems optimised for precise vertexing, tracking, particle identification, and event reconstruction. These subsystems have undergone extensive prototyping and validation campaigns, with many components already tested and integrated into existing experiments such as STAR/RHIC, HADES/SIS18, and E16/J-PARC. These efforts culminated in the realisation of the mCBM test set-up at the SIS18 accelerator, where key systems were successfully commissioned under realistic beam conditions. This contribution provides a concise overview of the current status of detector development, series production, and validation efforts through both simulations and measurements.