Development and study of picosecond start and trigger detector for high-energy heavy ion experiments

Two modular Cherenkov detectors based on MCP-PMTs XP85012 are developed for study Au+Au collisions in future experiments with beams of Nuclotron and collider NICA at JINR, Dubna. The detector arrays register high-energy photons and relativistic charged particles with aim of fast triggering the collisions and generation of start signal with time resolution better then 50 ps for TOF detector. The MC simulation showed the trigger efficiency of 100% for impact parameter range b<10 fm. The best time resolution for single detector channel σ_t≈21 ps was obtained with DRS4 digitizer in TOF measurements with a deuteron beam. - Highlights: • Two modular Cherenkov detectors with picosecond time resolution are developed. • Start detector for high energy heavy ion collisions is described. • Fast triggering Au+Au collisions with Cherenkov detector arrays is discussed