A consortium of Canadian researchers from Carleton and Waterloo Universities has joined the CERN-led MALTA project, a CMOS MAPS project fabricated in the 180nm TowerJazz technology node. We expect that Canadian expertise in analog mixed-signal design, Radiation Hardening by Design (RHBD) and algorithmic error correction for hardware implementation will be particularly valuable in advancing the...
The First Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor Prototype for The OCTOPUS Project
Fadoua Guezzi Messaoud on behalf of the OCTOPUS project
Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien IPHC, Strasbourg, France
Email: fadoua.guezzi-messaoud@iphc.cnrs.fr
Abstract
The next generation of lepton colliders will require extremely...
The Versatile MAPS project was started in response to the needs of several collaborations for a high performance ultra-low power MAPS detector for tracking applications. While there is a common understanding on the spatial precision (about 10 µm) and on a thinning of the sensors to the typical thickness (50 µm), the requirements in terms of rate capability, power and time stamping vary...
The Cactus and MiniCactus chip series are demonstrator sensors optimized for precision time measurement of the time of arrival of charged particles. Their goal is to explore the performance that can be obtained from non amplified monolithic sensors, especially with the LFoundry LF15A 150 nm technology. The last iteration of MiniCactus, called MiniCactus V2, has been tested in beam in June-July...
This Common Project proposal aims to develop a HV-CMOS multi-chip pixel detector demonstrator suitable for large scale production in future Higgs factory experiments, based on multi-chip modules with data aggregation and serial powering capabilities. These multi-chip modules, including low-mass multilayer flexible PCBs, will then be integrated in staves, where modules will be powered in...
The All-Silicon project focuses on the development of monolithic CMOS pixel modules. Unlike traditional pixel detector modules, which involve individually diced chips from the wafer that are subsequently glued onto a support structure, the all-silicon approach integrates several CMOS chips into a single, uniform ladder, cut from a single silicon wafer. Each ladder is diced in one large...
The CASSIA (CMOS Active SenSor with Internal Amplification) project is focused on developing monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) with internal signal gain in a commercial CMOS technology. The advantages of this approach include a higher input signal enabling simplification of in-pixel electronics, an improved signal-to-noise ratio for radiation hardness, and superior timing resolution for...
The HVCMOS technology is promising technology for tracking detectors at future experiments such as LHCb upgrade and Higgs factories, for its radiation hardness, fast charge collection and hence good spatial and timing resolution. Development of HVCMOS in smaller feature size will allow more functionailities in the same pixel area, and a reduced power consumption. We proposed a project to...
Geopolitics suggest to consider technologies that Europe has full control of. One option to avoid sources that might potentially become unavailable is to focus on Open-Source chip design tools and processes that are hosted in Europe and provide OpenPDKs. While this has already been proven to work for fully digital workflows, there is still a lot of work to be done for mixed-signal chips in...
The WEST superconducting tokamak in France features a full tungsten environment and is equipped with actively cooled walls providing valuable input for future operation of nuclear fusion reactors. Versatile multi-energy soft and hard x-ray pinhole cameras have been developed, calibrated, deployed and operated for long-pulse plasmas at WEST. These innovative imaging diagnostic leverages a...
Several irradiation campaigns using 23 GeV protons were conducted at the IRRAD facility at CERN, employing test structures from ATLAS1 wafers for the ATLAS ITk strip sensors. These campaigns aimed to study charge collection efficiency after irradiation. When irradiating with a narrow beam of high energy protons, various effects must be considered to accurately estimate the actual fluence and...
This contribution presents new insights into the elusive "X-defect", observed in Thermally Stimulated Current (TSC) measurements as a low-temperature shoulder to the BiOi defect in irradiated silicon diodes. Despite repeated observations, this defect has so far eluded assignment to a specific chemical structure.
A low-resistivity (10$\,\Omega$cm) p-type epitaxial silicon diode, irradiated...
Carrier recombination lifetime in semiconductor material is a key parameter influencing the performance of radiation detectors. This property is highly sensitive to the presence of radiation-induced defects, which act as recombination centres and significantly alter carrier lifetime. However, the nature and concentration of these defects can vary depending on the specific irradiation...
Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide band gap semiconductor with strong potential for use in next-generation sensors for high-luminosity colliders. Its intrinsic properties enable reliable operation at elevated temperatures and significantly reduce the need for active cooling systems. Moreover, SiC is typically fabricated using chemical vapor deposition, a versatile technique that ensures good...
To handle the tenfold increase in radiation from the High-Luminosity LHC, CMS will
replace its endcap calorimeters with the High-Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL).
Silicon pad sensors, covering an area of 620 m2 in the electromagnetic and
high-radiation hadronic regions, must withstand fluences of up to 1e16 neq/cm2.
They are fabricated on 8-inch p-type wafers with thicknesses of 120, 200,...
To face the higher levels of radiation due to the 10-fold increase in integrated luminosity during the High Luminosity LHC, the CMS detector will replace the current endcap calorimeters (CE) with the new High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL). It will facilitate the use of particle flow calorimetry with its unprecedented transverse and longitudinal readout and trigger segmentation, with more...
Doping removal is a well-known consequence of radiation damage in silicon detectors and has likely become the primary effect since the introduction of Low-Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGADs). In standard n-in-p LGADs, acceptor removal degrades the timing performance after irradiation by decreasing the effective acceptor concentration in the gain implant. Furthermore, in next-generation LGADs—such as...
With the development of collider experiments, the demand for detectors with high time and spatial resolution increased. AC-LGADs have been investigated widely due to their excellent time and spatial resolution. However, radiation exposure may damage the N++ layer, thereby affecting the performance of AC-LGADs. We conducted a TID irradiation test on a 5.6 mm AC-LGAD strip designed by IHEP and...
Low gain avalanche detectors with DC- and AC-coupled readout were exposed to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation at levels relevant to future experiments in particle, nuclear, medical, and astrophysics. Damage-related change in their acceptor removal constants and inter-channel resistivity are reported.
Updates on the ongoing activities of the Partial Activation of Boron (PAB) common project will be given. Preliminary results will be shown. The schedule of the PAB batches from CNM and FBK will be discussed.
An update on the "Defect engineering in PAD diodes mimicking the gain layer in LGADs" project will be given.
A novel 3D-Trench silicon pixel sensor featuring an enclosed deep trench surrounding the central columnar cathode will be developed in this project, the pixel size ranges from 25×25 μm2 to 150×150 μm2. The fabrication will be performed on the 8-inch CMOS pilot line at the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMECAS). To reduce the dead area in the 3D sensor, the...
This project aims at developing the next generation of 3D pixel sensors, further progressing in the
trend of decreasing pixel size which started with the ATLAS IBL and continued with the ATLAS ITk
and CMS Inner Tracker 3D pixels. Target applications are the possible Phase-3 upgrades of ATLAS
and CMS and the upgrade of LHCb VELO (with timing). Inherent to the 3D pixel architecture is...
Radiation tolerance of Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) is one of the major challenges in the development of precise timing tracking detectors for future hadron collider experiments. A widely accepted hypothesis for accepter removal attributes the deactivation of implanted boron to the formation of boron-oxygen complexes, which introduce donor-like defect levels. To investigate the role of...
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...
In recent years, development of pixel detectors has evolved from only improving the spatial resolution to also improving the temporal resolution.
The ultimate goal is to develop a 4 Dimensional tracking (4D tracking) system capable of combining micrometer spatial resolution with a temporal resolution in the order of tens of picoseconds. Sensor types such as Low-Gain-Avalanche-Detectors...
Silicon 3D Detector has demonstrated excellent performance, especially after high fluence irradiation, it has been running successfully on ATLAS Detector since 2015. In addition, it has also attracted investigations in other fields, astronomy, microdosimetry, medical imaging, etc. A novel 3D-Trench sensor has been designed and fabricated at the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese...
Sensors with fast timing capabilities are a critical component for all future tracking detectors to disentangle high multiplicity events. Silicon 3D sensors utilize columns etched orthogonal to the sensor substrate as their readout electrodes, in contrast to regular, planar, detector technologies, where the electrodes are only found on the sensor surface. 3D sensors display, in addition to...
As part of the DRD3 project "Double-Sided 3D Detectors for Ultra-Radiation Hard Timing Applications," we present the designs and the initial timing characterization with TCT of double sided 3D sensors produced at IMB-CNM. We also outline the roadmap for upcoming studies, which include detailed electrical characterization and the selection of new devices for testing at the ELI Beamlines facility.
This contribution has three distinguished parts all devoted to understanding the timing parameters of 3D Si CNM sensors and artefacts affecting the TPA -TCT measurements.
In contrast to planar detectors, 3D Si Double Sided Double Column devices were designed with n and p columns etched through the bulk, minimizing charge drift distance and improving timing. However, the peculiar geometry...
4D-tracking is a highly relevant topic in the development of future tracking detectors for high-energy physics experiments. Among the most promising sensor technologies for tracking in 4 dimensions are Resistive Silicon Detectors (RSD), based on Low Gain Avalanche Diode (LGAD) technology, that aim to achieve a timing resolution of approximately 30 ps and a spatial resolution of the order of a...
Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) are characterized by a fast rise time (~500ps) and extremely good time resolution (down to 17ps), and potential for a very high repetition rate with ~1 ns full charge collection. For the application of this technology to near future experiments such as e+e- Higgs factories (FCC-ee), the ePIC detector at the Electron-Ion Collider, or smaller experiments...
Low Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGADs) are a significant improvement upon standard silicon sensors because the gain layer provides timing resolution on the scale necessary to lend usage in environments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and accordingly form the backbone of timing layers present in the CMS and ATLAS phase 2 upgrades at the LHC. AC-coupled LGADs (AC-LGADs) allow charge sharing...
Resistive Silicon Devices (RSDs), particularly AC-coupled Low Gain Avalanche Diodes (AC-LGADs), open the path of pico second level space and time (4D) tracking in high-energy physics (HEP) experiments such as those at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), and future (lepton) colliders facilities. These sensors combine the fine spatial resolution of segmented detectors...
LGAD(Low Gain Avalanche Detector) is used in the HGTD(High Granularity Time Detector) of ATLAS phase II upgrade due to its excellent time resolution and spatial granularity. In order to utilize its high granularity advantage, it is necessary to bond the detector with a front-end readout chip of the same channel size using the flip chip process. The front-end readout chip is used to collect...
Low Gain Avalanche Detectors build on n-type substrate (nLGADs), developed by IMB-CNM, are optimized for the detection of low-penetrating particles such as soft X-rays, low-energy protons, and UV photons. Their design features a n-type gain layer that enables efficient charge multiplication for charge generation near the surface, making them suitable for applications in medicine, industry, and...
Low Gain Avalanche Detectors built on high resistivity n-type substrates (nLGAD) have emerged as a suitable alternative to conventional p-type sensors for low penetrating radiation detection. The Radiation Detectors Group of the IMB-CNM has been exploring the potentialities of this technology since 2020, mainly working within the framework of the CERN’s RD50 collaboration and several national...
One of the greatest milestones in scientific infrastructure in Brazil is concentrated in Sirius, installed at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), in Campinas. Just like the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), located in Grenoble, France, Sirius represents one of the most advanced fourth-generation synchrotron light sources in the world.
Both Sirius...
Silicon detectors with reduced inactive regions around their periphery are desirable for applications in high-energy physics, X-ray experiments, and medical imaging. Typically, an insensitive area is required to accommodate guard rings, which help maintain the electric field distribution around peripheral pixels and isolate defects at the physical edges of the detectors that could otherwise...
To evaluate the timing performance of the 3D detector, we developed a readout system for silicon detectors, taking inspiration from the Gali-66+ used by the Energy Frontier group in Japan. To better understand the working principle of a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) based on BJT transistors, we also referred to a TIA design developed by UCSC using a BFP840ESD (SiGe) transistor.
In this...
IMB-CNM has been a main actor in the development of Low Gain Avalanche Detectors since the initial device conception, more than a decade ago. In the last years, our efforts have been centred on developing new LGAD designs to enhance the device performance in aspects such as the charge collection efficiency or the improvement of the fill factor. At the same time, our technologies are being...
The AC-LGAD, functioning as a 4D detector, is capable of simultaneously delivering both timing and spatial information. Additionally, the strip AC-LGAD offers the advantage of reducing the number of readout channels while maintaining position resolution along the bending direction. This makes it an excellent candidate for timing tracker detectors in future colliders. However, the length of the...
Signal loss is the main limitation on tracking/vertexing performance due to radiation damage effect to hybrid pixel detectors when irradiated at fluences expected at High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC).
It is important to have reliable predictions on the charge collection efficiency (CCE) performance after irradiation in order to predict operational voltage values and test tracking algorithms...
The Python-based simulation package RASER (RAdiation SEmiconductoR) has been developed to advance semiconductor radiation detector research through integrated device-circuit simulation. The toolkit enables simulation-driven exploration of novel detector concepts through three core modeling dimensions: semiconductor material properties (including wide-bandgap compounds), customizable electrode...
RASER is a self-developed semiconductor simulation software. It can simulate semiconductor devices of silicon and silicon carbide in planar and 3D structures, obtaining key parameters. Recently, it has been optimized. It successfully simulated important electrical properties of SiC LGAD, verifying the gain layer model. The simulation of the deep-level compensation model of SiC detectors after...
Allpix Squared is a core infrastructure of DRD3 and provides a versatile open-source simulation framework for semiconductor detectors to the community. This contribution summarizes the improvements implemented over the past year and provides an overview of the features available in the most recent release version 3.2.
A special focus is given to the work concerning the closer integration of...
The OCTOPUS (Optimized CMOS Technology for Precision in Ultra-thin Silicon) project, part of the DRD3 collaboration, aims to simulate, develop, and characterise fine-pitch monolithic sensors using the 65 nm TPSCo CMOS process. The project targets a spatial resolution of 3 µm, a temporal resolution below 5 ns, a material budget of 50 µm of silicon equivalent, and an average power consumption...
Simulation of narrow column 3D detectors – search for gain
The 3D detectors with narrow and highly doped columns are most likely candidates for 3D devices with gain, similar to array of solid-state proportional wire tubes. 3D detectors with junction electrodes – n+ columns of <=1 um width could lead to gain depending on the width of the doping profile. Some initial performance simulation of...
The development of monolithic CMOS silicon sensors with gain layers is actively being developed worldwide. In many gain-layer-equipped Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS), the gain layer is implemented only in a limited region within each pixel, resulting in restricted charge multiplication areas. We are working toward the development of a new type of MAPS that features a gain layer...
Artificial sapphire has gained interest as a wide bandgap ($9.9\;{\rm eV}$) material for radiation hard detectors. Optical-grade single crystal sapphire is industrially grown in a variety of sizes with low cost. The low signal yield ($22\;\text{eh}\,{\rm μm}^{-1}{\rm MIP}^{-1}$) makes it suitable for applications where the collected charge is well above the readout noise. Also, it exhibits...
Gallium nitride (GaN) is a desirable material for charged particle spectroscopy in high temperature, high radiation environments. We report on results obtained from GaN vertical Schottky devices fabricated on 8 µm thick non-intentionally doped GaN epitaxial layers grown on native GaN substrates where the thick epi-layer is intended for ionizing radiation detection. Bulk dark current densities...
The wide bandgap 4H-SiC semiconductor material exhibits several intrinsic properties - namely, excellent radiation hardness, thermal stability, and high breakdown voltage - that make it a promising candidate for deployment in high-radiation environments. Recent advances in its industrial-scale production have further enhanced its attractiveness for high-energy physics applications.
This...
Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising material for particle detection and beam diagnostics due to its wide bandgap. At CERN, we established an experimental setup with radioactive sources to evaluate the performance of SiC sensors. This effort involved integrating SiC PAD sensors from 2nd to 4th CNM wafers being tested into a small, shielded tabletop setup, enabling precise measurement of pulse...
In future nuclear fusion reactors, monitoring escaping suprathermal ions, such as the 3.5 MeV alpha particles produced in D-T reactions, is crucial for optimizing plasma performance and maintaining reactor integrity. Silicon carbide (SiC) emerges as a promising candidate for fast ion detection due to its wide bandgap, high radiation tolerance, and thermal stability.
This study focuses on a...
Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors are increasingly strengthening their dominance in the power device market, with significant improvements in crystal growth and device processing technologies. As the core material for high-voltage power devices, silicon carbide (SiC) has emerged as a highly competitive candidate for particle detectors, owing to its outstanding radiation hardness (maintaining...
This talk will review the development of innovative radiation detectors that can be robustly operated in harsh environments. It requires the use of advanced microelectronic technology together with nanotechnology, and therefore, outcomes include the definition of completely new processing sequences. This new approach considers exploring novel uses and functionalities of 2D materials, such as...
4H-silicon carbide (4H-SiC) is an emerging wide bandgap detector material in high-energy physics due to its superior temperature stability and low dark current compared to silicon detectors. Critical to the performance of SiC detectors and electronics is their response to radiation damage induced defects. There exists a significant amount of literature showing the compensation of lightly doped...
Silicon Carbide (SiC) demonstrates significant potential for high-energy particle detection in complex radiation environments due to its exceptional radiation resistance, high thermal conductivity, and fast response. 4H-SiC PINs fabricated by Nanjing University were irradiated by 80-MeV protons to investigate the irradiation effects. The irradiated PINs showed a decrease in leakage current and...
Silicon carbide detectors exhibit good detection performance and are being considered for detection applications. However, the presence of surface electrode of detector limits the application of low-penetration particle detectors and photodetectors. A graphene-optimized 4H-SiC detector has been fabricated to expand the application of SiC detectors. Its electrical properties and the charge...
This report presents the latest progress in the development of 4H-SiC LGADs by LBNL, NCSU, and BNL. Building on the successful fabrication of 4H-SiC LGADs with etched termination and field plate, we have developed 4H-SiC AC-LGADs with 4D-tracking capabilities. Preliminary evaluations of their timing and spatial resolution have been conducted using UV-TCT, β sources, and electron beams,...
In contrast to silicon, 4H-SiC offers the potential to exhibit superior radiation hardness and significantly lower leakage current making it a compelling candidate for LGAD technology in extreme environments. This reduced leakage current can eliminate the need for active cooling, offering important operational and engineering advantages in space- and power-constrained detector systems. A joint...
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 across different projects, thereby drastically reducing the development effort and cost. It...
The qualification of new detectors in test beam environments presents a challenging setting that requires stable operation of diverse devices, often employing multiple data acquisition (DAQ) systems running on several machines in a local network. Changes to these setups are frequent, such as using different reference detectors depending on the facility. Managing this complexity necessitates a...
The transient current technique (TCT) has been a workhorse of detector characterization, allowing for the extraction of drift velocities, electric fields, space charge densities, and more. However, for very thin detectors ($\leq 50$ μm), the currently available readout electronics start to run into bandwidth limitations, as the charge carrier drift time becomes of the same order of magnitude...
4d tracking detectors for future experiments based on Resistive Silicon Detector technology will be exposed to high channel occupancy due to targeted low density of readout channels. To study the detector response to two nearly concurrent hits, we developed a new Transient Current Technique method (Double Beam TCT), where two focused pulsed laser beams can be controlled independently in space...
As part of the CERN EP R&D programme and the AIDAinnova collaboration, innovative and scalable concepts for hybridisation and module integration are being developed 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...
The development of hybrid pixel detectors requires a reliable and cost-effective interconnect technology, especially one that enables the hybridisation of single dies, offering greater flexibility for R&D and low-volume production. This presentation highlights the current status and recent advancements of in-house hybridisation processes developed within the CERN EP R&D programme and the...
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...
This work presents a novel approach for the packaging of ALPIDE/ALTAI chips that unlocks compact and non-planar assemblies with a minimal material budget. This solution represents an advancement based on methodologies developed for the ALICE ITS1 and the STAR tracker two decades ago. The core of this approach involves the use of flexible cables composed of aluminum and polyimide, with...
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...
This project proposal aims to develop radiation hard read-out architectures for hit rates above 100~MHz/cm$^{2}$ in Tower semiconductor compatible with HEP experiment services for the HL-LHC and beyond with a trigger-less approach for matrix sizes larger or equal to 2$\times$2~cm$^{2}$, where time tagging of events with sub-bunch crossing resolution is crucial to contribute to physics...
