TA-CON-2017-023

The PANDA experiment at the FAIR facility will use antipro-
ton beams on a fixed target to investigate open questions
in hadron physics in the momentum range of 1.5-15 GeV/c.
Two DIRC detectors in the target spectrometer will provide
charged particle identification (PID) for pions and kaons.
The Barrel DIRC covers polar angles
between 22∘ and 140∘ and momenta between 0.5 GeV/c and 3.5 GeV/c.
It is based on the successful BaBar DIRC detector, but with several
key improvements to perform π/K separation better than 3σ.
In the (forward) endcap region, for polar angles between 5∘ to 22∘,
the Disc DIRC will cleanly separate π from K for momenta
up to 4 GeV/c. Both DIRC counters will use lifetime-enhanced
microchannel plate PMTs
for photon detection in combination with fast readout electronics.
The radiators are made from highly polished synthetic fused silica
to minimize the loss of photons propagating through the radiators
by total internal reflection and to ensure that the Cherenkov
is conserved. Geant4 simulations and
tests with several prototypes at various test beam facilities have
been used to evaluate the designs and validate the expected
PID performance of both PANDA DIRC counters.