BLTWG Meeting 06/29/2009

• Time: 11:00 EST
• Place: EVO and ESNET (with telephone bridge)
• Connecting: instructions are here
• Present: R. Jones, Alex S., P. Androzewicz, E. Minges, E. Chudakov, and T. Whitlatch.

Agenda

1. Preparation for the internal tagger review - Tim
2. Meeting with BNL diamond working group - Richard
3. Microscope prototype progress report from UConn - Richard
4. Plans for pair spectrometer magnet work - Erik
5. Simulations update + cave backgrounds - Sasha
6. Funding needs for diamond work + other - discussion
7. Discussion of ideas for MRI proposal - discussion
8. Tasks to complete before Lehmann Review - discussion
9. Progress on MOU's - discussion

Notes

1. Preparation for the internal tagger review

Tim has created a web page to contain all of the materials related to the Tagger Magnet Review. Dry runs are scheduled for 8:00-10:45 on Wednesday July 1 and 1:00-4:00 on Thursday July 2. ESnet conferencing will be available. The run itself will be on July 10. The agenda is posted on the web page referenced above.

2. Meeting with BNL diamond working group

Members of the BNL diamond group have expressed interest in the results from our CHESS measurements on their type-III diamond. They have invited Richard to present these results to the BNL diamond working group on July 7. He will also have informal discussions with the group about ways in which we might collaborate in the future.

3. Microscope prototype progress report from UConn

Work on the microscope readout electronics continues at UConn. The digital readout control card has been powered and the FPGA was recognized by the programmer. A number of minor bugs have been found and resolved in the testing so far. The analog preamplifier board design has been completed and quotes have been received for making the prototypes. At this point we need to find a source of ~2K to make and populate a couple of prototype preamps.

4. Plans for pair spectrometer magnet work

The following plans were presented by Erik Minges from the group of Liping Gan at the University of North Carolina (UNCW). They are finalizing a MOU with Jefferson Lab to carry out these tasks.

1. collaborate with BNL to bring a 30D72 magnet on loan from BNL to Jlab.
2. coordinate an engineering effort to modify the gap size of the magnet in order to fit the experimental configuration.
3. conduct Monte Carlo simulation for the Pair Spectrometer detector design.
4. develop and construct Pair Spectrometer detectors.
5. participate in the Pair Spectrometer detector testing, installation, commissioning, calibration and maintenance.

5. Simulations update + cave backgrounds

deferred until next time

6. Funding needs for diamond work + other

The UConn group is looking for ~15K for diamond and microscope prototyping work over the period until 2012 when beamline construction funds become available. Funds for the pair spectrometer work by the UNCW group are already present in P3E. Beyond this, there may also be some funds needed for detector prototyping by the UNCW group and also Catholic Univ. Richard will contact the group leaders about those needs.

7. Discussion of ideas for MRI proposal

Four possibilities were outlined for where the infrastructure for diamond radiator production might be located.

1. UConn - There is an Institute of Materials Science at UConn with a history of strong collaborations with members of the Physics Department. They have had recent success with MRI proposals for instrumentation that is shared by more than one department. Richard will investigate whether there is any interest in diamond films within IMS.
2. Cornell - We have had a lot of help with our rocking curve measurements from the CHESS staff. Our collaborator Ken Finkelstein has expressed an interest in the development of high-power X-ray monochromators made of diamond, and they also have a big effort in high-pressure measurements using diamond anvil cells. All of this is to say that they might be interested in hosting a diamond treatment lab that would service our needs and also be potentially useful to other users.
3. BNL - Their accelerator and detector groups are currently developing exactly the kind of capability that we will need for diamond radiator production. Their current capabilities are extensive, but there might be areas where we might complement their existing infrastructure and at the same time become vested in the use of their facilities for our needs. One concern with this is that BNL is a DOE lab and this might be a barrier for a MRI. Another one is that the direction of the effort could change over the next few years and our contribution might not be enough to motivate them to retain existing capabilities that are essential for us.
4. Jlab - The lab has the most obvious interest in this infrastructure, but are not necessarily interested in hosting it. That would require devoting space and manpower to the instruments, which are in short supply, and also it would probably not have much benefit to other science besides GlueX.

In the discussion it was agreed the the four possibilities should be pursued in the order listed. Richard will begin by probing IMS members for interest.

8. Tasks to complete before Lehmann Review

A list of tasks to be completed in preparation for the Lehmann Review this fall will be assembled by the Jlab group.

9. Progress on MOUs

The construction MOU with Liping's group is under discussion between Jlab and NCSW. Work has not yet begun on the MOU with CUA and UConn. A template from existing MOU's is now available as a basis for new ones.