Fast Timing at Colliders: From Scintillator Hodoscopes to MicroPattern Arrays

Abstract

We give a select overview of charged particle timing at colliders. Roughly speaking, three eras capture the evolution of timing arrays. While luminosity and multiplicity dictate the detector technologies, there is also a need to review the various approaches to signal capture and processing, and their role in changing conditions for calibration. For the current era--the High-Luminosity LHC upgrades--the technique of dual-threshold timing can significantly simplify the crucial correction for amplitude walk.This correction often spans a time range an order of magnitude larger than the target resolution. Furthermore, because operating conditions vary in the high radiation environment, calibration can no longer be thought of as a one-time procedure. The TOFHIR2C ASIC designed for a CMS upgrade can be configured to provide dual threshold timing. In this report, we use this capability to demonstrate the power of this technique suitable for our new era.}