Design and Simulation Study of the Hadronic Calorimeter for the EicC Zero Degree Calorimeter
Abstract
The Zero-Degree Calorimeter (ZDC) at the proposed Electron-Ion Collider in China (EicC) is essential for detecting forward-going neutral particles and supporting the core nucleon spin and 3D imaging physics programs. In this work, a highly compact Spaghetti Calorimeter (SPACAL) architecture is proposed and optimized as the baseline design for the ZDC hadronic section. To systematically and quantitatively evaluate its physics capabilities, a comprehensive end-to-end Geant4 simulation framework was developed, integrating energy deposition, optical photon transport, photo-detection, and modeled front-end signal digitization. The optimized detector demonstrates excellent performance for neutron detection, achieving an energy resolution of 33.42%/√(E/GeV) + 1.47% and a timing resolution of approximately 500 ps, outperforming the targeted specification. Furthermore, full-system simulations incorporating the upstream electromagnetic calorimeter yield a sub-centimeter transverse position resolution. Moreover, topological shower shape analysis across the full detector system provides robust particle identification (PID), with photon-neutron separation accuracy reaching over 99% for high-energy incident particles. These quantitative results confirm that the SPACAL design fully satisfies the stringent operational and physics requirements of the EicC forward kinematic region.
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BibTeX
@misc{wang2026design,
title = {{Design and Simulation Study of the Hadronic Calorimeter for the EicC Zero Degree Calorimeter}},
author = {Maiyu Wang and Yuan Li and Hao Wang and Xikun Sun and Zixiang Zhou and Yutie Liang and Weizhi Xiong and Ye Tian and Ting Lin},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.16985},
eprint = {2609.16985},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16985},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Design and Simulation Study of the Hadronic Calorimeter for the EicC Zero Degree Calorimeter
AU - Maiyu Wang
AU - Yuan Li
AU - Hao Wang
AU - Xikun Sun
AU - Zixiang Zhou
AU - Yutie Liang
AU - Weizhi Xiong
AU - Ye Tian
AU - Ting Lin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.16985
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16985
AB - The Zero-Degree Calorimeter (ZDC) at the proposed Electron-Ion Collider in China (EicC) is essential for detecting forward-going neutral particles and supporting the core nucleon spin and 3D imaging physics programs. In this work, a highly compact Spaghetti Calorimeter (SPACAL) architecture is proposed and optimized as the baseline design for the ZDC hadronic section. To systematically and quantitatively evaluate its physics capabilities, a comprehensive end-to-end Geant4 simulation framework was developed, integrating energy deposition, optical photon transport, photo-detection, and modeled front-end signal digitization. The optimized detector demonstrates excellent performance for neutron detection, achieving an energy resolution of 33.42%/√(E/GeV) + 1.47% and a timing resolution of approximately 500 ps, outperforming the targeted specification. Furthermore, full-system simulations incorporating the upstream electromagnetic calorimeter yield a sub-centimeter transverse position resolution. Moreover, topological shower shape analysis across the full detector system provides robust particle identification (PID), with photon-neutron separation accuracy reaching over 99% for high-energy incident particles. These quantitative results confirm that the SPACAL design fully satisfies the stringent operational and physics requirements of the EicC forward kinematic region.
ER -