Development of trigger and start detectors for experiments with high-energy heavy ions at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research

Fast Cherenkov and scintillation detectors based on microchannel-plate photomultiplier tubes and silicon photomultipliers are being developed for application in the multi-purpose detector and baryonic matter at the Nuclotron experiments with the heavy ion beams at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The aim of the detectors is the fast triggering of nucleus–nucleus collisions with high efficiency and to generate the start signal with picosecond time resolution for time-of-flight measurements. The detectors provide a time resolution better than 50 ps and can operate in the strong magnetic field of the experimental facilities.