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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Status of the data acquisition, trigger, and slow control systems of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab

The Mu2e experiment at the Fermilab will search for a coherent neutrinoless conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus with a sensitivity improvement by a factor of 10,000 over existing limits. In this work, the Mu2e Trigger and Data Acquisition System (TDAQ) uses otsdaq framework as the online Data Acquisition System (DAQ) solution. Developed at Fermilab, otsdaq integrates several framework components — an artdaq-based DAQ, an art-based event processing, and an EPICS-based detector control system (DCS), and provides a uniform multi-user interface to its components through a web browser. Data streams from the Mu2e tracker and calorimeter are handled by the artdaq-based DAQ and processed by a one-level software trigger implemented within the art framework. Events accepted by the trigger have their data combined, post-trigger, with the separately read out data from the Mu2e Cosmic Ray Veto system. Foundation of the Mu2e DCS, EPICS – an Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System – is an open-source platform for monitoring, controlling, alarming, and archiving. A prototype of the TDAQ and the DCS systems has been built and tested over the last three years at Fermilab’s Feynman Computing Center, and now the production system installation is underway. This work presents their status and focus on the installation plans and procedures for racks, workstations, network switches, gateway computers, DAQ hardware, slow controls implementation, and testing.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Mu2e Digitizer ReAdout Controller (DiRAC): characterization and radiation hardness

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of a nucleus. Mu2e detectors comprise a straw tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and a veto for cosmic rays. The calorimeter employs 1348 Cesium Iodide crystals readout by silicon photo-multipliers and fast front-end, and digitization electronics. The digitization board is named DiRAC (Digitizer ReAdout Controller) and 140 cards are needed for the readout of the full calorimeter. The DiRACs are hosted in crates located on the external surface of calorimeter disks, inside the detector solenoid cryostat and must sustain very high radiation and magnetic field so it was necessary to fully qualify it. Several version of prototypes were validated for operation in a high-vacuum (10−4 Torr) and under a 1T magnetic field. An extensive radiation hardness qualification campaign, carried out with photons, 14 MeV neutron beams, and 200 MeV protons, certified the DiRAC design to sustain doses up to 12 Krad, neutron fluences up to ∼ 1011 1 MeV neq/cm2, and very low occurrences of single-event effects. The qualification campaigns and quality assurance procedures will be reviewed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development and construction status of the Mu2e electromagnetic calorimeter mechanical structures

Abstract The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the CLFV neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The observation of this process would be the evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model. Mu2e comprises a straw-tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and an external veto for cosmic rays. The calorimeter provides electron identification, a fast trigger and aids track reconstruction. It is a state-of-the-art crystal calorimeter and employs 1340 pure CsI crystals readout by UV-extended SiPM and fast electronics. The design consists of two identical annular disks positioned at the relative distance of 70 cm downstream the target.The hostile Mu2e conditions (total ionizing dose of 12 krad and a neutron fluence of 5 × 10 10 n/cm 2 @ 1 MeVeq (Si)/y, 1 T magnetic field and vacuum level of 10 −4 Torr) posed tight constraints on the mechanical structures and materials choice. The support structure of the two crystal matrices employs two aluminum hollow rings and parts made of open-cell vacuum-compatible carbon fiber. SiPMs and front-end electronics for each crystal are assembled in one mechanical unit inserted in a machined copper holder. The units are supported by a plate made of vacuum-compatible material. The plate integrates the cooling system made of a network of copper lines flowing a low temperature fluid and placed in thermal contact with the copper holders. The DAQ is hosted in aluminum crates positioned on the lateral surface of the disks. The crates also integrate the DAQ electronics cooling system. We review the constraints on the calorimeter structures design, the development of all the structural components, including the simulations that have determined the materials and technological choices and the specifications of the cooling station, components production and quality assurance tests, the procedures for detector assembly, transportation and installation in the experimental area.

Instruments & Instrumentation↗
DOE OSTI2024

Developing a data-driven method to constrain the antiproton background in the Mu2e experiment

The Mu2e experiment will search for CLFV neutrinoless coherent muon to electron conversion in the field of an Al nucleus. The expected signal is a 104.97 MeV/c monochromatic $e^-$ (CE). CE-like $e^-$’s could also come from $\bar{p}$’s annihilating in the Stopping Target (ST). The background induced by $\bar{p}$’s is expected to be low but has a large systematic uncertainty. It cannot be suppressed by the time window cut used to reduce the prompt background. However, $p\bar{p}$ annihilation in the ST is the only source of events in the Mu2e detector with multiple tracks coming from the ST, simultaneous in time, each with a momentum in the signal window region. We exploited this unique feature and developed algorithms to identify and reconstruct multi-track events. This paper discusses the status and prospects of this data-driven method to constrain the $\bar{p}$ background at Mu2e.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

A data-driven method to constrain the $\bar{p}$ background in Mu2e

The Mu2e experiment will search for the charged lepton flavour violating process of neutrinoless coherent muon to electron conversion in the field of an Al nucleus. The expected signal is a 104.97 MeV/c electron. One of the expected backgrounds is due to ¯ps produced by the proton beam at the Production Target and annihilating in the Stopping Target (ST). The background from ¯p annihilation is not a dominant one, but it has a large uncertainty and it cannot be suppressed by the timing cuts used to reduce the prompt background. However at Mu2e energies, p¯p annihilation is the only source of events with multiple simultaneous tracks coming from the ST. We exploit this unique feature and reconstruct the multi-track events to estimate the ¯p background.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ferrite Specification for the Mu2e 300 kHz and 4.4 MHz AC Dipole Magnets

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will measure the rate for neutrinoless-conversion of negative muons into electrons with never-before-seen precision. This experiment will use a pulsed 8 GeV proton beam with pulses separated by 1.7 µs. To suppress beam induced backgrounds to this process, a set of dipoles operating at 300 kHz and 4.4 MHz have been developed that will reduce the fraction of out-of-time protons at the level of 1E-10 or less. Selection of magnetic ferrite material for construction must be carefully considered given the high repetition rate and duty cycle that can lead to excess heating in conventional magnetic material. A model of the electromagnetic and thermal properties of candidate ferrite materials has been constructed. Magnetic permeability, inductance, and power loss were measured at the two operating frequencies in toroidal ferrite samples as well as in the ferrites from which prototype magnets were built. Additionally, the outgassing rates of the ferrite material was measured to determine vacuum compatibility. The outcome of this work is a detailed specification of the electrical and mechanical details of the ferrite material required for this application.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Enhancements and Deployment of the TDAQ System for the Mu2e Experiment

The Real Time Processing Systems Division at Fermilab has deployed new features to the Off-The-Shelf Data Acquisition framework (otsdaq) for the Mu2e experiment. The Mu2e experiment will search for the coherent neutrino-less conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus with a sensitivity improvement of 10,000 times over existing limits. Such a charged lepton flavor-violating reaction probes new physics at a scale unavailable at present or planned high-energy colliders. The Mu2e Trigger and Data Acquisition (TDAQ) system uses otsdaq as its online Data Acquisition System (DAQ) framework. otsdaq integrates the artdaq and art frameworks for event transfer, filtering, and processing. otsdaq is a web-based DAQ software suite focusing on flexibility and scalability and provides a multi-user interface accessible through a web browser. artdaq handles the entire data stream, which is read over the peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) bus to a software filter algorithm that selects events combined with the data flux coming from a cosmic-ray veto (CRV) system. Detector front-ends are configured through the PCIe bus by customized otsdaq plugins. The otsdaq slow controls infrastructure has been further developed using the experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) open-source platform for monitoring, controlling, alarming, and archiving. The detector control system (DCS) for Mu2e has been integrated into otsdaq. The production TDAQ and DCS system has been deployed at the experimental hall and is being debugged and optimized for experiment operations. We report on the feature enhancements and deployment of otsdaq for Mu2e.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mu2e: Modeling Drift of Ionized Particles with ML

The Mu2e experiment searches for charged lepton flavor violation through muon-to-electron conversion in the field of a nucleus. The signal is a monoenergetic electron with an energy of 104.97 MeV. Its momentum is reconstructed using information from drifting ionized particles in a straw tracker detector. This project analyzes the drift of ionized particles with a deep neural network to help improve the momentum reconstruction process. The model yields a 20% improvement in resolution from a reference linear model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

A New Track Trigger for Characterization of the Antiproton-Induced Background in the Mu2e Experiment

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will enable the search for the neutrinoless muon to electron conversion in the field of an Al nucleus, a charged lepton flavor violating process. If observed, there would be a clear indication of physics beyond the Standard Model. Mu2e aims to reach a single event sensitivity of $3 /times 10^{-17}$, improving from the previous limit by 4 orders of magnitude. This improvement relies on the development of trigger selection systems, designed to discard data from background-induced events by placing kinematic, topological cuts on a particle’s reconstructed track. One of the largest sources of background Mu2e faces is proton-antiproton annihilation. These annihilations produce a 2 GeV shower of particles, among which there could be an electron that mimics the conversion electron signal, with an expected number of 0.010 ± 0.010. The large uncertainty on this number is dominated by the systematic uncertainty associated with the theoretical production model. To better characterize this background, we have developed an antiproton trigger selection by taking advantage of the track multiplicity and topology of these events. We discuss the steps taken in this development and the first performance study of this trigger, evaluating the signal efficiency and background rate. This trigger is essential to enable a data-driven analysis targeting the reduction of the systematic uncertainty of the antiproton-induced background in the Mu2e experiment.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

LLRF System for the Fermilab Mu2e Project – AC Dipole Extinction

The Mu2e experiment measures the conversion rate of muons into electrons. The experiments requires 53 MHz batches of 8 GeV protons to be re-bunched into 150 ns, 2.5 MHz pulses for extraction to a single RF cavity running at 2.36 MHz. To meet stringent limits on the amount of beam between pulses, an Extinction System is used comprising of 2 AC dipole magnets (4.4MHz, 296Khz) and a collimator.

Guran, M. [Fermilab] (ORCID:0009000235538559)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Calorimeter calibration and performance for the Mu2e experiment

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the charged lepton flavour-violating conversion of a muon into an electron, aiming to reach a sensitivity of $R_{\mu e} \sim 10^{-17}$, an improvement of four orders of magnitude over previous limits. To reach this goal, Mu2e will use an intense pulsed muon beam and a detector system composed of a high-precision straw tube tracker and a pure CsI crystal calorimeter. The calorimeter plays a crucial role in the experiment, as it provides particle identification capabilities that are necessary for background suppression. To perform its tasks, the detector must achieve an energy resolution better than 10% and a timing resolution below 500 ps for 100 MeV electrons. Cosmic-ray data and laser pulses are used to equalize the response of each channel, to calibrate the energy scale and to monitor the system's stability over time. This poster reports on the calibration and analysis techniques developed to ensure that the calorimeter requirements for precise energy and time measurements are met. Results for the calorimeter performance obtained during the commissioning phase will be discussed, and an overview of the current status in the Mu2e experimental hall will be presented.

Salamino, Sabrina [Frascati]↗
DOE OSTI2024

Slow control and TDAQ systems installation and tests in the Mu2e experiment

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will attempt to detect a coherent neutrinoless conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus, with a sensitivity that is 10,000 times greater than existing limits. The Mu2e trigger and data acquisition system (TDAQ) uses the otsdaqframework as its online Data Acquisition System (DAQ) solution. Developed at Fermilab, otsdaq integrates several components, such as an artdaq-based DAQ, an art-based event processing, and an EPICS-based detector control system (DCS), and provides a uniform multi-user interface toits components through a web browser. The data streams from the Mu2e tracker and calorimeter are handled by the artdaq-based DAQ and processed by a one-level software trigger implemented within the art framework. Events accepted by the trigger have their data combined, post-trigger, with the separately read-out data from the Mu2e Cosmic Ray Veto system. The foundation of Mu2e DCS, EPICS, an Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System, is an open-source platform for monitoring, controlling, alarming, and archiving. Over the last three years, a prototype ofthe TDAQ and DCS systems has been built and tested at Fermilab’s Feynman Computing Center.Currently, the production system installation is underway. At the end, this work presents a brief update on the installation of racks and DAQ hardware.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Beam-Based Target Alignment for Mu2e

The Mu2e Experiment is a precision experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, searching for charged lepton flavor violation (CLFV) in the conversion of a muon to an electron in the presence of an atomic nucleus. In order to achieve the expected single-event sensitivity of $3\times 10^{-17}$ , Mu2e will require an intense muon beam, generated via pion decay. These pions are the product of a proton beam striking a radiatively-cooled tungsten target. In order to maximize pion production and prevent target failure, the beam will have to be aligned with the target center to within 0.5 mm. The production target monitor (PTM) will ensure this alignment. The PTM consists of a series of proportional wire chambers (PWC’s) upstream and downstream of the production target. In this dissertation, I explain the requirements of this detector system and derive the decisions about which detector model to use and how they should be arranged from these requirements. After this, I describe my e xperience building the detectors and show an early use for them in the Mu2e proton beam. I also performed a study of the sensitivity and time resolution of this model of PWC and its electronics, and give the results here. I then describe a series of simulation campaigns which shed light on the interactions between the beam and the target, and how these interactions manifest on the downstream detectors. Finally, I give the target scanning procedure to be used to align the beam and target during experiment start up.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Beyond PID Controllers: PPO with Neuralized PID Policy for Proton Beam Intensity Control in Mu2e

We introduce a novel Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) algorithm aimed at addressing the challenge of maintaining a uniform proton beam intensity delivery in the Muon to Electron Conversion Experiment (Mu2e) at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). Our primary objective is to regulate the spill process to ensure a consistent intensity profile, with the ultimate goal of creating an automated controller capable of providing real-time feedback and calibration of the Spill Regulation System (SRS) parameters on a millisecond timescale. We treat the Mu2e accelerator system as a Markov Decision Process suitable for Reinforcement Learning (RL), utilizing PPO to reduce bias and enhance training stability. A key innovation in our approach is the integration of a neuralized Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller into the policy function, resulting in a significant improvement in the Spill Duty Factor (SDF) by 13.6%, surpassing the performance of the current PID controller baseline by an additional 1.6%. This paper presents the preliminary offline results based on a differentiable simulator of the Mu2e accelerator. It paves the groundwork for real-time implementations and applications, representing a crucial step towards automated proton beam intensity control for the Mu2e experiment.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mu2e: Modeling Drift of Ionized Particles with ML

The Mu2e experiment searches for charged lepton flavor violation through muon-to-electron conversion in the field of a nucleus. The signal is a monoenergetic electron with an energy of 104.97 MeV. Its momentum is reconstructed using information from drifting ionized particles in a straw tracker detector. This project analyzes the drift of ionized particles with a deep neural network to help improve the momentum reconstruction process. The model yields a 20% improvement in resolution from a reference linear model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Status of the Mu2e calorimeter readout electronics

The Mu2e experiment [1] at Fermilab will search for the neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of a nucleus. Mu2e detectors comprise a straw tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and a veto for cosmic rays. The calorimeter employs 1348 Cesium Iodide crystals readout by silicon photomultipliers and fast front-end and digitization electronics. The front-end electronics consists of two discrete readout circuits (AMP-HV) for each crystal. These provide the amplification, shaping stage and linear regulation of the SiPM bias voltage and monitoring. The SiPM and front-end control electronics is implemented in a battery of mezzanine boards each equipped with an ARM processor that controls a group of 20 Amp-HV circuits distributing the low voltage and the high-voltage. The electronic is hosted in crates located on the external surface of calorimeter disks. The crates also host the waveform digitizer board (DIRAC) that performs digitization of the front end signals and transmit the digitized data to the Mu2e DAQ. Calorimeter electronic is hosted inside the cryostat and must sustain very high radiation and magnetic field so it was necessary to fully qualify it. The system design and quality assurance procedures will be reviewed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mu2e Tracker Electronics - Construction of a Straw Tracker

The Mu2e experiment, currently under construction at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) in Batavia, Illinois, is a particle physics experiment designed to detect Charged Lepton Flavor Violation (CLFV) via muon-to-electron conversion, a process beyond the Standard Model (BSM). One of the primary Mu2e detectors is the Straw Tracker, whose purpose is to measure the momentum of the electron, identify the signal, and reject background. The straw tubes are being read out by a total of 20,736 preamplifiers (preamps) within 36 planes that make up the Tracker. In this presentation, the installation of electronics into the Tracker, the implementation of anti-oscillation copper clips, and the process of installing fully constructed planes into the frame will be discussed in depth.

Lynch, Alec [UC, Berkeley]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Machine learning for slow-extraction uniformity at the Fermilab Delivery Ring

The Muon-to-Electron Conversion Experiment (Mu2e) requires uniform slow extraction from the Fermilab Delivery Ring during each 43 ms spill. This project analyzed 13,737 spills from seven parquet files collected during March and June 2026 commissioning. Each spill contained 430 samples at 0.1 ms resolution and was summarized by the Spill Duty Factor. Null Action and active proportional-integral-derivative conditions established operational baselines. Fixed-ramp sessions were segmented to evaluate reproducibility, drift, and spill-to-spill spread, while a deliberate quadrupole-ramp step identified the beam-response peak and trough. Median profiles were reproducible within fixed conditions but drifted over multi-hour periods. The resulting baselines and response features support future physics-based and machine-learning approaches to real-time spill regulation.

Prescott, Matthew J. [Purdue U., West Lafayette; F↗