We report test beam studies of {11\,\%} of the production ATLAS Tile Calorimeter modules. The modules were equipped with production front-end electronics and all the calibration systems planned for the final detector. The studies used muon, electron and hadron beams ranging in energy from 3~GeV to 350~GeV. Two independent studies showed that the light yield of the calorimeter was $\sim 70$~pe/GeV, exceeding the design goal by {40\,\%}. Electron beams provided a calibration of the modules at the electromagnetic energy scale. Over 200~calorimeter cells the variation of the response was {2.4\,\%}. The linearity with energy was also measured. Muon beams provided an intercalibration of the response of all calorimeter cells. The response to muons entering in the ATLAS projective geometry showed an RMS variation of 2.5\,\% for 91~measurements over a range of rapidities and modules. The mean response to hadrons of fixed energy had an RMS variation of {1.4\,\%} for the modules and projective angles studied. The response to hadrons normalized to incident beam energy showed an {8\,\%} increase between 10~GeV and 350~GeV, fully consistent with expectations for a non-compensating calorimeter. The measured energy resolution for hadrons of $\sigma/E = 52.9\,\%/\sqrt{E} \oplus 5.7\,\%$ was also consistent with expectations. Other auxiliary studies were made of saturation recovery of the readout system, the time resolution of the calorimeter an d the performance of the trigger signals from the calorimeter

The response of pions and protons in the energy range of 20 to 180 GeV produced at CERN's SPS H8 test beam line in the ATLAS iron-scintillator Tile hadron calorimeter has been measured. The test-beam configuration allowed to measure the longitudinal shower development for pions and protons up to 20 nuclear interaction lengths. It is found that pions penetrate deeper in the calorimeter than protons. However, protons induce showers that are wider laterally to the direction of the impinging particle. Including the measured total energy response, the pion to proton energy ratio and the resolution, all observations are consistent with a higher electromagnetic energy fraction in pion induced showers. The data are compared with GEANT4 simulations using several hadronic physics lists. The measured longitudinal shower profiles are described by an analytical shower parameterization within an accuracy of 5-10%. The amount of energy leaking out behind the calorimeter is determined and parameterised as a function of the beam energy and the calorimeter depth. This allows for a leakage correction of test-beam results in the standard projective geometry

In this article, a low-power, radiation-hard front-end circuit for monolithic pixel sensors, designed to meet the requirements of low noise and low pixel-to-pixel variability, the key features to achieve high detection efficiencies, is presented. The sensor features a small collection electrode to achieve a small capacitance (<5 fF) and allows full CMOS in-pixel circuitry. The circuit is implemented in the 180-nm CMOS imaging technology from the TowerJazz foundry and integrated into the MALTA2 chip, which is part of a development that targets the specifications of the outer pixel layer of the ATLAS Inner Tracker upgrade at the LHC. One of the main challenges for monolithic sensors is a radiation hardness up to 10 ¹⁵ 1-MeV $\text {n}_{\text {eq}}/\text {cm}^{{2}}$ non-ionizing energy loss (NIEL) and 80 Mrad total ionizing dose (TID) required for this application. Tests up to ${3} \cdot {10}^{15}$ 1-MeV $\text {n}_{\text {eq}}/\text {cm}^{{2}}$ and 100 Mrad were performed on the MALTA2 sensor and front-end circuit, which still show good performance even after these levels of irradiation, promising for even more demanding applications such as the future experiments at the high-luminosity large hadron collider (HL-LHC).

The design and field test of a novel sensor system based in autonomous wireless sensors to measure the temperature of the heat transfer fluid along a borehole heat exchanger (BHE) is presented. The system, by means of two specials valves, inserts and extracts miniaturized wireless sensors inside the pipes of the borehole, which are carried by the thermal fluid. Each sensor is embedded in a small sphere of just 25 mm diameter and 8 gr weight, containing a transceiver, a microcontroller, a temperature sensor and a power supply. A wireless data processing unit transmits to the sensors the acquisition configuration before the measurements, and also downloads the temperature data measured by the sensor along its way through the BHE U-tube. This sensor system is intended to improve the conventional thermal response test (TRT) and it allows the collection of information about the thermal characteristics of the geological structure of subsurface and its influence in borehole thermal behaviour, which in turn, facilitates the implementation of TRTs in a more cost-effective and reliable way.

The gap of standardization for conducted and field coupled electromagnetic interferences (EMI) in the 2–150 kHz frequency range can lead to Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) problems. This is caused by power systems such as Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controlled rectifiers, photovoltaic inverters or charging battery units in electric vehicles. This is a very important frequency spectral due to interferences generated in a wide range of devices and, specifically, communication problems in the new technologies and devices incorporated to the traditional grid to convert it into a Smart Grid. Consequently, it is necessary to provide new solutions to attenuate this kind of interference, which involves finding new materials that are able to filter the electromagnetic noise. This contribution is focused on characterizing the performance of a novel material based on nanocrystalline and comparing it to most common material compositions such as MnZn and NiZn. This research is carried out from the point of view of the manufacturing process, magnetic properties and EMI suppression ability. This last item is carried out through two analysis procedures: a theoretical method by determining the attenuation ratio by measuring impedance parameter and proposing a new empirical technique based on measuring directly the insertion loss parameter. Therefore, the main aim of this characterization process is to determine the performance of nanocrystalline compared to traditional cable ferrite compositions to reduce the interferences in this controversial frequency range. From the results obtained, it is possible to deduce that nanocrystalline cable ferrite provides the best performance to filter the electromagnetic noise in the 2–150 kHz frequency range.