A new aerogel Cherenkov detector for DIRAC-II

A new threshold Cherenkov detector using silica aerogel radiators is in operation in the DIRAC-II experiment at CERN. A duplex design was chosen to discriminate between kaons and protons in the momentum range 4–8 GeV/c. The counter consists of overlapping modules with two different refractive indices, 1.015 and 1.008, covering the low and high momentum regions, respectively. We developed a new design of alternating layers of aerogel tiles and diffusive reflector foils coated with wavelength shifter to improve light collection in the aerogel. A pyramidal shape of the aerogel radiator was also adopted for best signal uniformity over a large sensitive area. We report on the detector status and its performance in the DIRAC 2007 run.