Test and characterization of a prototype silicon–tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter

New generation high-energy physics experiments demand high precision tracking and accurate measurements of a large number of particles produced in the collisions of elementary particles and heavy-ions. Silicon–tungsten (Si–W) calorimeters provide the most viable technological option to meet the requirements of particle detection in high multiplicity environments. We report a novel Si–W calorimeter design, which is optimized for γ/π0 discrimination up to high momenta. In order to test the feasibility of the calorimeter, a prototype mini-tower was constructed using silicon pad detector arrays and tungsten layers. The performance of the mini-tower was tested using pion and electron beams at the CERN Proton Synchrotron (PS). The experimental results are compared with the results from a detailed GEANT-4 simulation. A linear relationship between the observed energy deposition and simulated response of the mini-tower has been obtained, in line with our expectations.