Quartz plate calorimeter as SLHC upgrade to CMS hadronic endcap calorimeters

Due to an expected increase in radiation damage under super-LHC conditions, we propose to substitute the scintillator tiles in the original design of the hadronic endcap (HE) calorimeter with quartz plates. Quartz is proved to be radiation hard by the radiation damage tests with electron, proton, neutron and gamma beams. Using wavelength shifting fibers, it is possible to collect efficiently the Cherenkov light generated in quartz plates. This paper summarizes the results from various test beams, bench tests, and Geant4 simulations done on methods of collecting light from quartz plates, as well as radiation hardness tests on quartz material. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd