Refining the Quality Assurance and Quality Control of Detector Modules for the Barrel Timing Layer of CMS

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will enter its High-Luminosity era in 2028, during which it will begin collecting 20 times more data than it is currently collecting. Increasing the LHC's luminosity will increase the chances that rare processes are observed, providing insight into undiscovered physics. To achieve these goals, a new subsystem of the CMS experiment, the Minimum-Ionizing-Particle Timing Detector (MTD), is being constructed to measure the time of arrival of particles with unprecedented precision. A key component of the MTD is the Barrel Timing Layer (BTL), which will be composed of detector modules comprising two 16-bar LYSO scintillating crystals and four silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) connected to Time-of-Flight High-Rate (TOFHiR) electronics. Detector modules must operate at temperatures of -45°C to achieve maximum light yield and operating lifetimes. I refined a method developed by colleagues at CERN to test the thermoelectric coolers (TECs) in the detector modules, which cool the SiPMs when current is supplied to them. These improvements to the quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) of detector modules will prime the MTD to work at maximum capacity for as long as possible, helping the LHC achieve its luminosity goals so new physics can be discovered.