Strong enhancement of electromagnetic shower development induced by high-energy photons in a thick oriented tungsten crystal

• Published in: The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields Vol. 83; no. 1; pp. 101 - 8
• Main Authors: Soldani, M., Bandiera, L., Moulson, M., Ballerini, G., Baryshevsky, V. G., Bomben, L., Brizzolari, C., Charitonidis, N., D’Alessandro, G. L., De Salvador, D., van Dijk, M., Georgiev, G., Gianoli, A., Guidi, V., Haurylavets, V., Lobko, A. S., Maiolino, T., Mascagna, V., Mazzolari, A., Petrucci, F. C., Prest, M., Romagnoni, M., Rubin, P., Soldi, D., Sytov, A., Tikhomirov, V. V., Vallazza, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Approximation; Astronomy; Astrophysics and Cosmology; Comparative analysis; Crystal lattices; Crystal structure; Crystals; Electric fields; Electromagnetism; Elementary Particles; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; High energy physics; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Physics; Photons; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Field Theories; Quantum Field Theory; Radiation; Regular Article - Experimental Physics; String Theory; Tungsten
• ISSN: 1434-6052; 1434-6044; 1434-6052
• DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-11247-x

We have observed a significant enhancement in the energy deposition by 25– 100 GeV photons in a 1 cm thick tungsten crystal oriented along its ⟨ 111 ⟩ lattice axes. At 100 GeV , this enhancement, with respect to the value observed without axial alignment, is more than twofold. This effect, together with the measured huge increase in secondary particle generation is ascribed to the acceleration of the electromagnetic shower development by the strong axial electric field. The experimental results have been critically compared with a newly developed Monte Carlo adapted for use with crystals of multi- X 0 thickness. The results presented in this paper may prove to be of significant interest for the development of high-performance photon absorbers and highly compact electromagnetic calorimeters and beam dumps for use at the energy and intensity frontiers.