Performance characterization of the NSW Micromegas detector, services design and development of the Slow Control Adapter for the ATLAS upgrade

The ATLAS experiment is one of the largest LHC experiments at CERN. It is a general purpose experiment that detects particles originating from proton collisions at its center. This thesis was carried out in the frame of an ATLAS upgrade, namely the New Small Wheel, which is meant to allow ATLAS to cope with higher requirements when the LHC starts up again. In the following chapters, a brief description of ATLAS and its operation will be given. Then, the focus will be presenting the work for this thesis. Namely: • the motivation for the New Small Wheel upgrade and its composition. • the operation of Micromegas detectors, which are included in the New Small Wheel. This will include description of the principle of operation as well as the multiple tests of prototypes and production modules of this detector during the development phase in order to create a system to cope with the requirements of the HL-LHC upgrade. • the outline of the control system of ATLAS, focusing on software development for this system. This module includes study of the Slow Control Adapter integrated circuit, which will be used for configuration and monitoring of the front-end electronics in ATLAS. Moreover, it includes software development for preparation of the corresponding packets and communication with the integrated circuit. Finally, there were tests and demonstrator cases for the operation of the software with the chip and electronics. • the design of the services system of the New Small Wheel upgrade. This system was developed in cooperation with multiple expert teams on gas, cooling, fiber optics, high voltage and other sub- systems. Their design, requirements and limitations will be described.