TARGET is an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designed to read out signals recorded by the photosensors in cameras of very-high-energy gamma-ray telescopes exploiting the imaging of Cherenkov radiation from atmospheric showers. TARGET capabilities include sampling at a high rate (typically 1 GSample/s), digitization, and triggering on the sum of four adjacent pixels. The small size, large number of channels read out per ASIC (16), low cost per channel, and deep buffer for trigger latency (∼16 µs at 1 GSample/s) make TARGET ideally suited for the readout in systems with a large number of telescopes instrumented with compact photosensors like multianode or silicon photomultipliers combined with dual-mirror optics. The possible advantages of such systems are better sensitivity, a larger field of view, and improved angular resolution. The two latest generations of TARGET ASICs, TARGET 5 and TARGET 7, are soon to be used for the first time in two prototypes of small-sized and medium-sized dual-mirror telescopes proposed in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project. In this contribution we report on the performance of the TARGET ASICs and discuss future developments.

TARGET 5 is a new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) of the TARGET family, designed for the readout of signals from photosensors in the cameras of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. TARGET 5 combines sampling and digitization on 16 signal channels with the formation of trigger signals based on the analog sum of groups of four channels. We describe the ASIC architecture and performance. TARGET 5 improves over the performance of the firstgeneration TARGET ASIC, achieving: tunable sampling frequency from < 0.4 GSa/s to > 1 GSa/s; a dynamic range on the data path of 1.2 V with effective dynamic range of 11 bits and DC noise of ∼0.6 mV; 3-dB bandwidth of 500 MHz; crosstalk between adjacent channels < 1.3%; charge resolution improving from 40% to < 4% between 3 photoelectrons (p.e.) and > 100 p.e. (assuming 4 mV per p.e.); and minimum stable trigger threshold of 20 mV (5 p.e.) with trigger noise of 5 mV (1.2 p.e.), which is mostly limited by interference between trigger and sampling operations. TARGET 5 is the first ASIC of the TARGET family used in an IACT prototype, providing one development path for readout electronics in the forthcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).

In this paper, the formation of C + n and C − n cluster ions has been investigated. The carbon cluster ions were produced by the laser ablation of a rotating graphite target in vacuum. The study has been carried out using time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Mass spectra of positive and negative cluster ions were observed as a function of delay time between the irradiation of the laser pulse and the acceleration of ions. The mass distribution of clusters changed significantly in the initial phase (≤10 µs) after the irradiation of the laser pulse. The sizes of both positive and negative cluster ions grow with the increase in the delay time.These results indicate that clustering reactions progress even in vacuum without ambient gas. The mechanism of clustering is considered to be reactions among various carbon ions and neutral species in the laser ablation plume.KEYWORDS: laser ablation, time-of-flight mass spectrometry, positive carbon cluster ions, negative carbon cluster ions, clustering reactions of carbon ions *

International audienceThe Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) consortium aims to build the next-generation ground-based very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory. The array will feature different sizes of telescopes allowing it to cover a wide gamma-ray energy band from about 20 GeV to above 100 TeV. The highest energies, above 5 TeV, will be covered by a large number of Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs) with a field-of-view of around 9°. The Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), based on Schwarzschild–Couder dual-mirror optics, is one of the three proposed SST designs. The GCT is described in this contribution and the first images of Cherenkov showers obtained using the telescope and its camera are presented. These were obtained in November 2015 in Meudon, 2 http://www.cta-observatory.org France

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