Abstract

The Time Of internally Reflected CHerenkov light (TORCH) collaboration is developing an innovative high-precision time-of-flight detector which will be suitable for large areas, up to tens of square metres, with a particular application for the upgraded LHCb experiment. The TORCH detector provides a time-of-flight measurement from the imaging of prompt Cherenkov photons emitted in a 1 cm thick quartz radiator plate. The photons propagate by total internal reflection to the edge of the plate and are then focused onto an array of Micro Channel Plate (MCP) photon detectors at the periphery of the detector, utilizing custom-made MCPs manufactured by our industrial partners, Photek Limited, UK. The goal is to achieve a timing resolution of 15 ps per particle over a flight distance of 10 m, which will allow particle identification in the challenging intermediate momentum region up to 10 GeV/c. The overall status of the project, including the progress of the MCP and electronics development, will be presented.