Results from the FDIRC prototype

We present results from a novel Cherenkov imaging detector called the Focusing DIRC (FDIRC). This detector was designed as a prototype of the particle identification system for the SuperB experiment, and comprises 1/12 of the SuperB barrel azimuthal coverage with partial electronics implementation. The prototype was tested in the SLAC Cosmic Ray Telescope (CRT) which provides 3-D muon tracking with an angular resolution of ~1.5 mrad, track position resolution of 5-6 mm, start time resolution of 70 ps, and a muon low-energy cutoff of ~2 GeV provided by an iron range stack. The quartz focusing photon camera couples to a full-size BaBar DIRC bar box and is read out by 12 Hamamatsu H8500 MaPMTs providing 768 pixels. We used IRS2 waveform digitizing electronics to read out the MaPMTs. We present several results from our on-going development activities that demonstrate that the new optics design works very well, including: (a) single photon Cherenkov angle resolutions with and without chromatic corrections, (b) S/N ratio between the Cherenkov peak and background, which consists primarily of ambiguities in possible photon paths to a given pixel, (c) dTOP=TOPmeasured-TOPexpected resolutions, and (d) performance of the detector in the presence of high-rate backgrounds. We also describe data analysis methods and point out limits of the present performance.