In this presentation we show the preliminary results from our study on 3D columnar pixel sensor technology using femtosecond laser based TCT (both SPA and TPA modes). We investigated 3D columnar silicon technology fabricated within RD50 Common project and fabricated at CNM-IBM. This analysis is work under progress. The aim is to develop advanced tool with high precision for studying the 3D...
In this contribution, I will review the mechanisms that govern signal formation in LGAD.
In particular, the contribution investigates how the interplay among the initial energy deposition, space charge effects, and gain saturation determine several LGAD properties, such as the shape of the Landau distribution as a function of gain and the temporal resolution.
Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) are crucial for high-energy physics applications, especially in the harsh radiation environments of future colliders. This abstract introduces LGADs enhanced with deep carbon implantation, emphasizing their superior radiation tolerance.
LGADs achieve high temporal resolution and precise spatial measurements through an internal gain mechanism and fine...
In this contribution we will first give a short introduction on the results from our previously reported study on ghosts in Ti-LGADs with double trenches in the inter-pixel region. The focus will be given on the most recent results from our study on irradiated samples. Both, irradiated 2Tr PINs and irradiated 2Tr LGADs are investigated from AIDAinova and RD50 production. Also, irradiated 1Tr...
Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) show excellent precision timing performance for high-energy physics (HEP) particle detection and will therefore be employed in detector upgrades for the High-Luminosity LHC ATLAS and CMS. However, traditional p-type LGADs face limitations in detecting low-penetrating particles, such as soft X-rays and low-energy protons. To address this, n-type LGADs...
The CMS experiment will enhance its capabilities with precision timing detectors covering |η| ≤ 3 to manage high rates and reduce pile-up in the HL-LHC era starting in 2030. Future upgrades may extend timing across the full tracker acceptance (|η| ≤ 4), with LGADs as a potential option for pixel detector end-cap replacements. This project focuses on the development of an ASIC in 28 nm CMOS...
Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) are characterized by a fast rise time (~500ps) and extremely good time resolution (down to 17ps). For the application of this technology to near future experiments, the intrinsic low granularity of LGADs and the large power consumption of readout chips for precise timing is problematic. AC-coupled LGADs, where the readout metal is AC-coupled through an...
With the development of collider experiments, the demand for detectors with high time and spatial resolution has become increasingly stringent. AC-LGAD has sparked wide research due to its exceptional time and spatial resolution and can achieve lower readout electronics density under a fixed effective area and enable position resolution with directional sensitivity. The project aims to develop...
This contribution presents the design strategy and the preliminary characterization of the first, proof-of-concept, production of DC-coupled Resistive Silicon Detector (DC-RSD). The DC-RSD is a resistive thin LGAD with a DC-coupled read-out. This design leads to signal containment within a predetermined number of electrodes using isolating trenches (TI technology).
Several test structures...
Silicon sensors with gain such as LGADs (Low Gain Avalanche Diodes) are prime candidates for high resolution timing applications in High Energy Physics, Nuclear science, and other fields. Over the course of their lifetime, these sensors are required to withstand enormous amounts of radiation ($>10 ^{15} n_{eq}/cm^2$) while maintaining acceptable performances at hadron colliders. Particles...
Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) are silicon-based devices that can achieve good timing resolution due to their unique internal gain. LGADs are proposed for a wide range of fast-timing applications in high energy physics, nuclear physics, and other precision measurements of rare processes. The p-doped gain layer in an LGAD allows generation of a controlled avalanche of charge carriers,...
Status report on RD50 Common Fund Project - RD50-2023-03: Deep Junction LGAD
We propose the NEUROmorphic computing framework for PIXelated detector data processing (NEUROPIX) framework, which will create a path for hardware development, enabling the development of integrated circuit (IC)-based neuromorphic platforms that can perform powerful classification, interpolation, and anomaly-detection tasks with low latency and power. We base this framework on spiking neural...
We will present the development of an electronics board that will make the rapid characterization of multipixel silicon sensor arrays for fast timing possible. OPTIMA is optimized for multichannel readout, such that full information relative to the timing performance of shared charge between pixels is acquired. Each channel comprises a dual-stage amplifier design with a uniform response up to...
We will present the overview of 4 projects of interest at the IMB-CNM. We aim to create a collaboration for each project.
Project 1: Trench Isolated iLGAD for fill factor optimization
Project 2: AC-LGAD for HEP and Synchrotron Applications.
Project 3: Deep Junction LGAD, stabilisation of the technology at the IMB-CNM.
Project 4: Doubled sided 3D detectors for ultra-radiation hard...
In this R&D proposal, we aim at demonstrating a novel kind of low-cost, large-area, small-pixel silicon pixel detector based on AC-couple low-gain avalanche diode (AC-LGAD) technology. This new technology, the SMall pixel Adhesively coupled Large area LGAD (SMALLGAD), would combine the excellent timing resolution known of LGAD detectors with the small pixel readout of current state-of-the-art...
Within the CERN EP R&D programme and the DRD3 collaboration, innovative and scalable hybridisation and module-integration concepts are pursued for pixel-detector applications in future colliders. Most interconnect processes require specific surface properties and topologies of the bonding pads. An in-house Electroless Nickel Gold (ENIG) plating process is therefore under development, which is...
To reduce the material budget and maximize the active area of sensors for future experiments, a 30 µm thick lightweight flex has been developed. The fabrication technology, combined with novel interconnection techniques, enables compact packaging through the direct attachment of chip connection pads to the flex. In addition to interconnection methods such as Anisotropic Conductive Films and...
We will present the Workpackage DRD7.6b - common access to 3D and advanced integration. Besides the installation and qualification of advanced integration technologies, one of the key being objectives is the establishment of a distributed laboratory to provide the service to the detector community.
At KEK an electron test beam facility with beam momentum up to 5 GeV has been established since 2022. Usually the beam is available for sensor testing for three periods (May-June, Oct-Dec and Feb-Mar) in each year in total about 5.5 months. The beam rate at 3 GeV is more than 2 kHz with beam spot size of 2 cm (1 cm) in horizontal (vertical) direction in RMS.
We have a plan to improve the...
We present the updated analysis of the fluence profile at the JSI TRIGA neutron reactor facility in Ljubljana. For the study, multi-pad Low-Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGADs) are used. The deactivation of acceptor doping in the gain layer implant due to the irradiation, typical of LGAD devices, is exploited to map the fluence profile inside the irradiation channels. The amount of active doping of...
The recent rise of fast timing applications at high radiation fluences requires testing in low-temperature environments (< -40°C) to mitigate thermal runaway for multi-pixelated matrices bonded to readout ASICs and to regulate carrier mobility. To that end, we present an upgraded infrastructure for the EUDAQ-based AIDA telescope at the SPS North Area H6B beamline. The system integrates a 1.2...
Semiconductor radiation detectors intended to be used in future accelerator facilities have often very specific requirements in terms of radiation hardness, spectroscopic quality, timing properties and spatial sensitivity. The ion microprobe technique IBIC (Ion Beam Induced Charge) is a well-established technique which provides information about most of these detector properties in a rather...
EURO-LABS is an EU project covering nuclear and particle physics (accelerator and detector) research infrastructures (RI). For HEP detector R&D, Transnational Access (TA) at 11 RIs is offered free of charge to the users.
I will review the usage at the RIs in the first two years of the project and point to opportunities for DRD3 projects to access the resources in the final two years,...
The qualification of new detectors in laboratory or test beam environments presents a complex challenge, requiring the stable operation of multiple devices often supported by separate control and data acquisition systems. These setups frequently undergo modifications, such as the inclusion of different reference detectors depending on the facility, adding further complexity. Successfully...
We propose to combine two existing DAQ programs: Track Lab and Constellation. Track Lab is a graphical application focusing on pixel detectors of the Timepix family, compatible with a diverse range of readout hardware such as Katherine and MiniPIX. Thanks to its modular architecture, Track Lab allows users to construct complex data processing workflows by interconnecting simple building...
A beam telescope based on the Timepix4 ASIC was built in order to perform tests of synchronous multiple-detector readout and track reconstruction with fast timing capability. The beam telescope is an excellent tool to study novel sensors with both high spatial and time resolution, and is capable of operating at high rates. The Timepix4 is a readout ASIC for hybrid pixel detectors that is...
We demonstrate the application of the Three-Photon Absorption Transient Current Technique (3PA-TCT) for the characterization of silicon carbide (SiC) p-in-n diodes with an active thickness of 50 µm, manufactured at IMB-CNM. The characterization was performed at the laser facility of the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), utilizing advanced nonlinear optical techniques to achieve...
OBELIX will be the next chip in the succession line of the TJ-Monopix family. Implemented in Tower Semiconductor 180 nm technology, with its small pixel pitch (33 um2) and fast time precision (100 ns), OBELIX is designed targeting the vertex and tracker detectors for future e+e- collider experiments. In this contribution a first OBELIX-based telescope system will be proposed as possible...
Owing to their timing capabilities, of the order of 50 ps or better for MIP, Low Gain Avalanche Detector (LGAD) have been chosen for next-generation timing detectors at the HL-LHC and other high-energy physics experiments. Both ATLAS and CMS collaborations have adopted them as baseline sensors for the High Granularity Timing Detector (HGTD) and MIP Timing Detector (MTD) in their...
The carrier recombination properties of semiconductors are critically influenced by defect species introduced by irradiations. In particle detectors, a reduction in carrier lifetime correlates with the degradation of charge collection efficiency and with an increase of leakage current. To develop radiation hard particle sensors and to predict variations of sensor functional parameters with...
We present the research activities within the DRD3 project proposal “Radiation damage in Boron-doped Silicon diodes and LGAD sensors”, relevant to understanding radiation damage in silicon. One of the main objectives is the defect characterization at microscopic level in boron doped silicon subject to extreme irradiation fluences (2x10$^{16}$ n$_{\rm eq}$/cm$^2$) and establish the role of B,...
With the upgrade of the LHC to the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), the Inner Detector will be replaced with the new all-silicon ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) to maintain tracking performance in a high-occupancy environment and to cope with the increase in the integrated radiation dose.
Comprising an active area of 165m$^2$, the outer four layers in the barrel and six disks in the endcap region...
The unparalleled sensitivity achieved with skipper CCDs, coupled with ultra-pure high-resistivity substrates (>22 kOhm×cm) and cryogenic operation, has rekindled interest in this technology for low-background experiments (DAMIC@SNOLAB, DAMIC-M, SENSEI, and OSCURA) Such devices offer sub-electron noise resolution, enabling the detection of extremely low-energy interactions critical for...
To meet the high radiation hardness and timing resolution requirements of high-energy physics experiments, we present an initial investigation into double-sided 3D sensors with various geometrical structures developed by CNM. We evaluated their electrical performance through I-V and C-V measurements and compared the results with TCAD Silvaco simulations and theoretical estimations. Initial...
Kevin Lauer,$^{1,2}$ Katharina Peh,$^{2}$ Dirk Schulze,$^{2}$ Stefan Krischok,$^{2}$ Mario Bähr,$^{1}$ Richard Grabs,$^{1}$ Frank Long,$^{1,3}$ Martin Kaleta,$^{1}$ Andreas Frank$^{1}$ and Thomas Ortlepp$^{1}$
$^{1}$CiS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik GmbH, Konrad-Zuse-Str. 14, 99099 Erfurt, Germany
$^{2}$Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut für Physik, Weimarer Str. 32, 98693...
Updates on the ongoing activities of the Partial Activation of Boron (PAB) common project will be given.
An update on the recent progress from the investigation on thin silicon sensors for extreme fluences will be given.
Results from thin sensors with and without gain will be presented and an overview of future developments will be discussed.
To face the higher levels of radiation due to the 10-fold increase in integrated luminosity during the High-Luminosity LHC phase, the CMS collaboration will replace the current calorimeter endcaps with the new High-Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) concept. It will facilitate the use of particle-flow calorimetry with its unprecedented transverse and longitudinal readout/trigger segmentation,...
The introduction of carbon doping in Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) has been shown to effectively mitigate neutron-irradiation-induced acceptor removal effects. However, the microscopic mechanism behind this phenomenon remains unclear. In this study, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations model the effects of 1 MeV neutrons in critical regions in LGAD, providing data on the energy and spectrum of...
We will present an overview of the on-going investigations of radiation induced defects in Si and SiC sensors performed within WG3 group.
Low-Gain Avalanche Detector (LGAD) has become an attractive candidate for ultra-fast silicon detectors. TCAD simulations are playing an increasingly important role in optimizing the LGAD design configurations. A few TCAD studies have indicated a disagreement between the simulated and the measured charge collection, even in the non-irradiated LGADs. In simulations, the impact ionization models...
The ATLAS ITk strip sensors are n-on-p sensors with thousands of strips, designed for the ATLAS tracker upgrade for the High-Luminosity LHC and built to withstand extreme radiation levels, up to a 1 MeV neutron equivalent fluence of 1.6×1016/cm2. Developing precise models to understand sensor performance at the device level throughout their operational lifespan is essential for optimizing...
The ATLAS ITk-Strip detector is a planned tracker upgrade for the High-Luminosity LHC which utilizes n+-in-p silicon sensors fabricated by Hamamatsu Photonics with 300 μm signal-generation thickness and approximately 75 μm strip pitch. The sensors must withstand severe irradiation over their operational lifetimes, corresponding to fluences of up to 1.6x10$^{16}$ 1-MeV neq/cm$^2$, with...
A very promising candidate for a more power efficient (e.g., in power electronics) replacement of Silicon is the wide band gap material 4H-SiC. To describe its physical properties in Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) simulations many models with accompanying parameters have been proposed. Often these contradict each other which makes it challenging to identify a suitable initial set of...
SiC detector can work stably for a long time in extreme environments with high temperature and strong irradiation because of its high electron saturation drift rate, high thermal conductivity, high breakdown voltage and strong irradiation tolerance. RAdiation SEmi-conductoR is now developing the full process simulation of various SiC detector like PIN, LGAD and strip detector. Not only the...
Allpix Squared is a versatile open-source simulation framework for semiconductor detectors, and was presented at the last DRD3 week. The framework enables detailed end-to-end simulations of pixellated sensor setups for several detector types, semiconductor materials, and geometries for a variety of applications. It also takes advantage of multi-processor architectures for fully parallel event...
4H-SiC detectors have potential to operate in high radiation and room-temperature environments due to the broader band gap, elevated atomic displacement threshold energy and high thermal conductivity. In order to verify the irradiation resistance of 4H-SiC LGAD devices, we successfully prepared LGAD devices with a gain factor of 3 and proceeded to irradiate the device with protons at 80 MeV (2...
Silicon carbide as wide band-gap semiconductor, has physical characteristics of wide bandgap, excellent carrier mobility, higher breakdown electric field, higher thermal conductivity and higher saturated drift velocity compared with silicon. However, the existing 4H-SiC radiation detectors all use metal electrodes, which are easy to produce structural defects after metal electrode irradiation,...
Wide band-gap (WBG) semiconductors, specifically SiC and GaN, have shown increasing use in industry as transformative innovations for high-efficiency and high-power electronic devices. They stand as some of the most promising contenders for a new generation of semiconductors that could overtake Si in certain fields. Due to this greater commercial use, developments have been made in the growth...
SiC is among the most promising materials for use in detectors operating under extreme radiation and temperature conditions. For these applications, the replacement of the front electrode with a graphene layer could represent a significant improvement due to the thermal and electronic properties of this novel material. As a first approach, the Barcelona Institute of Microelectronics has...
Pristine and neutron-irradiated silicon carbide (SiC) detectors have been systematically characterized using the Two-Photon Absorption Transient Current Technique (TPA-TCT) at the laser facility of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). The SiC detectors under investigation are p-in-n diodes fabricated at IMB-CNM, with an active thickness of 50 microns.
Our study reveals a...
Silicon carbide (SiC) detectors have recently undergone a resurgence of research interest due to significant industry improvements in production and processing. The material's favorable characteristics, including extremely small leakage currents, a high breakdown voltage, and high charge carrier velocities, make it a promising candidate for replacing silicon detectors in the future. One...
Two Photon Absorption (TPA) effect is a second order non-linear optical effect in semiconductor material, which refers to the phenomenon that when a femto-second laser is focused inside the device, electrons in valance band could absorb two photons simultaneously and create a point-like activation region around laser focus. Electron-hole pairs generated in the activation region can be used to...
Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a promising material for particle detection and beam diagnostics due to its supposedly high radiation resilience. We established a new probe station setup and an experimental setup to evaluate SiC performance using radioactive sources. This effort involved integrating SiC pad sensors from the Common RD50 project into a small, shielded tabletop setup, enabling precise...
As a wide bandgap semiconductor material, silicon carbide (SiC) has been widely used in power devices due to its inherent advantages. In recent years, the use of SiC as a replacement for silicon in charged particle detectors for collider experiments has gained increasing attention. However, due to various limitations in SiC processing (such as ultra-low doping epitaxy and high energy ion...
Caribou is a versatile data acquisition system used in multiple collaborative frameworks (CERN EP R&D, DRD3, AIDAinnova, Tangerine) for laboratory and test-beam qualification of novel silicon pixel detector prototypes. The system is built around a common hardware, firmware and software stack shared accross different projects, thereby drastically reducing the development effort and cost. It...
Pixelated SiC LGAD device with both timing and position capabilities has the potential to address the 4D tracking in extreme fluence of future collider experiment. In order to improve the tracking and timing capability of SiC-LGAD devices, the development of DC-coupled and AC-coupled LGAD devices paves the way for the application of wide band-gap semiconductor detectors in high energy fields....
4H-SiC is becoming a leading candidate for next-generation semiconductor detectors due to the increased availability in industry. These new sensors show promising properties like its stable performance across a wide temperature range, making cooling of irradiated devices not necessary.
This project aims to study radiation hardness, annealing, traps, and the applicability of the NIEL...
In the passive CMOS Strips Project, strip sensors were designed by a collaboration of German institutes and produced at LFoundry in 150 nm technology. Up to five individual reticules were connected by stitching at the foundry in order to obtain the typical strip lengths required for the LHC Phase-II upgrade of ATLAS or CMS trackers. The sensors were tested in a probe station and characterised...
We intend to develop monolithic active CMOS Strips sensors for particle tracking applications, using experience from a previous project with stitched passive CMOS sensors.
The project is open to further collaborators.
The RD50-MPW4, the latest HV-CMOS pixel sensor of the former CERN-RD50-CMOS group, enhances radiation tolerance, granularity, and timing resolution for future experiments like the HL-LHC and FCC. Fabricated by LFoundry in December 2023 using a 150nm CMOS process, it features a 64 x 64 pixel matrix with a $62 \times 62 \mu m^2$ pitch and employs a column-drain readout architecture. The previous...
With the next upgrade of the ALICE inner tracking system (ITS3) as its primary focus, a set of small MAPS test chips have been developed in the 65 nm TPSCo CMOS process. The Circuit Exploratoire 65 nm (CE-65) focuses on the important characterisation of the analogue charge collection properties of this technology. The latest iteration of sensor design in this line of development is CE-65v2,...
Monolithic CMOS silicon sensors represent an important innovation for high-energy physics experiments due to their cheaper production and assembly cost compared to hybrid ones. Indeed, in hybrid devices, the electronics and the sensor are produced on different silicon substrates, which must be later connected using bonding techniques. However, as far as the time resolution is concerned, the...
Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor (MAPS) are among the most promising options for vertex detectors in future lepton colliders. Manufactured in a TPSCo 65 nm CMOS imaging process, the Hybrid-to-Monolithic (H2M) prototype advances this sensor type in the context of high-energy physics applications. The design process employed a digital-on-top design flow, and studied the portability of hybrid pixel...
The experiment purpose is to get signals from the MPW4 monolithic active pixel sensor (MAPS) under femtosecond TPA laser excitation at different depths (z-scan mode) and positions (xy-scan mode) on the chip (backside illumination). At 1550 nm, the silicon is transparent below a light intensity threshold so the photoionization (light absorption) happens only around the focus point (voxel...
The project aims to develop key technologies for the vertex detector in future lepton colliders, with a focus on CEPC. This development is crucial for enhancing the physics potential of future lepton colliders.
The current design of the CEPC vertex detector employs curved MAPS technology, inspired by the ALICE ITS3 upgrade. However, new challenges arise in adapting this curved MAPS...
For the future era of high luminosity operation in LHCb experiment, the Upstream Tracker (UT) is planned to be upgraded to a higher granularity and radiation hard tracker. CMOS technology is a promising solution. Compared to hybrid silicon pixel sensors, CMOS processes enable smaller sensor sizes while maintaining a lower material budget. CMOS technology is also a potential candidate for the...
Wafer to wafer bonding offers an economic approach to interconnect all readout electronic chips with the solid-state sensor chips on the wafer by only one bonding step. This is a promising technology for the fabrication of 3D integrated ultra-thin hybrid modules for particle detection and timing layers in future particle detectors. The technology described in this contribution combines the...
Characterization measurements of $25~\mathrm{\mu m} \times 25~\mathrm{\mu m}$ pitch 3D silicon sensors are performed, for devices with active thickness of $150~\mu$m. Evidence of charge multiplication caused by impact ionization below the breakdown voltage is observed in sensors operated at $-45~^\circ\mathrm{C}$. Small-pitch 3D silicon sensors have potential as high precision 4D tracking...
Trench-isolated (TI) LGADs, developed at FBK, are pixelated LGAD implementations where pads are separated by physical trenches etched within the silicon substrate and filled with a dielectric. Developed as an alternative approach to implant-based inter-pad separation (JTEs), this technology promises a dramatic reduction to dead regions, mitigating fill factor issues inherent to small-pitch...
