The Imaging Time-of-Propagation Detector at Belle II

Authors:
  • HAHulya Atmacan
    Hulya Atmacan
  • MBMatt Belhorn
    Matt Belhorn
  • YGYinghui Guan
    Yinghui Guan
  • LLLongke Li
    Longke Li
  • BPBilas Pal
    Bilas Pal
  • SSSaurabh Sandilya
    Saurabh Sandilya
  • ASAlan Schwartz
    Alan Schwartz
  • BWBoqun Wang
    Boqun Wang
  • SWShun Watanuki
    Shun Watanuki
  • MAMatthew Andrew
    Matthew Andrew
  • MBMatthew Barrett
    Matthew Barrett
  • MBMartin Bessner
    Martin Bessner

Abstract
We report on the construction, operation, and performance of the Time-of-Propagation detector with imaging used for the Belle II experiment running at the Super-KEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. This detector is located in the central barrel region and uses Cherenkov light to provide particle identification among hadrons. The Cherenkov light is radiated in highly polished bars of synthetic fused silica (quartz) and transported to the ends of the bars via total internal reflection. One bar end is instrumented with finely segmented micro-channel-plate photomultiplier tubes to record the light, while the other end has a mirror attached to reflect the photons back to the instrumented end. Both the propagation times and hit positions of the Cherenkov photons are measured; these depend on the Cherenkov angle and together provide good discrimination among charged pions, kaons, and protons with momenta up to around 4 GeV/$c$. To date, the detector has been used to record and analyze almost 600 fb$^{-1}$ of Belle II data.