Backsplash studies for the Scintillator Pad Detector of LHCb in a tagged-photon test beam

The Scintillator Pad Detector (SPD) of the LHCb experiment is part of the calorimeter system, positioned just before the preshower (PS), and is meant to separate photons and electrons at level 0 of the trigger. A tagged-photon test beam allowed to test in photon signals the SPD. These signals are mainly due to pair production inside the scintillator and to particles generated in the electromagnetic shower in the PS and in the electromagnetic calorimeter (backsplash). The observed results in a test beam experiment stress the low inefficiencies in e/γ separation arising from backsplash.