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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Humidity sensitivity of large area silicon sensors: Study and implications

The production of large area sensors is one of the main challenges that the ATLAS collaboration faces for the new Inner-Tracker full-silicon detector. During the prototype fabrication phase for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider upgrade, several ATLAS institutes observed indications of humidity sensitivity of large area sensors, even at relative humidities well below the dew point. Specifically, prototype Barrel and End-Cap silicon strip sensors fabricated in 6-inch wafers manifest a prompt decrease of the breakdown voltage when operating under high relative humidity, adversely affecting the performance of the sensors. In addition to the investigation of these prototype sensors, a specific fabrication batch with special passivation is also studied, allowing for a deeper understanding of the responsible mechanisms. Here we present an extensive study of this behaviour on large area sensors. The locations of the hotspots at the breakdown voltage at high humidity are revealed using different infrared thermography techniques. Several palliative treatments are attempted, proving the influence of sensor cleaning methods, as well as baking, on the device performance, but no improvement on the humidity sensitivity was achieved. Furthermore, a study of the incidence of the sensitivity in different batches is also presented, introducing a hypothesis of the origins of the humidity sensitivity associated to the sensor edge design, together with passivation thickness and conformity. Several actions to be taken during sensor production and assembly are extracted from this study, in order to minimize the impact of humidity sensitivity on the performance of large area silicon sensors for High Energy Physics experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Response of a CMS HGCAL silicon-pad electromagnetic calorimeter prototype to 20–300 GeV positrons

The Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration is designing a new high-granularity endcap calorimeter, HGCAL, to be installed later this decade. As part of this development work, a prototype system was built, with an electromagnetic section consisting of 14 double-sided structures, providing 28 sampling layers. Each sampling layer has an hexagonal module, where a multipad large-area silicon sensor is glued between an electronics circuit board and a metal baseplate. The sensor pads of approximately 1.1 cm$^{2}$ are wire-bonded to the circuit board and are readout by custom integrated circuits. The prototype was extensively tested with beams at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron in 2018. Based on the data collected with beams of positrons, with energies ranging from 20 to 300 GeV, measurements of the energy resolution and linearity, the position and angular resolutions, and the shower shapes are presented and compared to a detailed Geant4 simulation.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Design and evaluation of large area strip sensor prototypes for the ATLAS Inner Tracker detector

The ATLAS community is facing the last stages prior to the production of the upgraded silicon strip Inner Tracker for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider. An extensive Market Survey was carried out in order to evaluate the capability of different foundries to fabricate large area silicon strip sensors, satisfying the ATLAS specifications. The semiconductor manufacturing company, Infineon Technologies AG, was one of the two foundries, along with Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., that reached the last stage of the evaluation for the production of the new devices. The full prototype wafer layout for the participation of Infineon, called ATLAS17LS-IFX, was designed using a newly developed Python-based Automatic Layout Generation Tool, able to rapidly design sensors with different characteristics and dimensions based on a few geometrical and technological input parameters. Here we present the layout design process and the results obtained from the evaluation of the new Infineon large area sensors before and after proton and neutron irradiations, up to fluences expected in the inner layers of the future ATLAS detector.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

200 mm sensor development using bonded wafers

Sensors fabricated from high resistivity, float zone, silicon material have been the basis of vertex detectors and trackers for the last 30 years. The areas of these devices have increased from a few square cm to > 200m 2 for the existing CMS tracker. High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), CMS and ATLAS tracker upgrades will each require more than 200 m 2 of silicon and the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) will require more than 600 m 2 . The cost and complexity of assembly of these devices is related to the area of each module, which in turn is set by the size of the silicon sensors. In addition to large area, the devices must be radiation hard, which requires the use of sensors thinned to 200 microns or less. The combination of wafer thinning and large wafer diameter is a significant technical challenge, and is the subject of this work. In this paper we describe work on development of thin sensors on 200 mm wafers using wafer bonding technology. Results of development runs with float zone, Silicon-on-Insulator and Silicon-Silicon bonded wafer technologies are reported.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Characterizing novel Indium Phosphide pad detectors with focused X-ray beams and laboratory tests

Future tracking systems in High Energy Physics experiments will require large instrumented areas with low radiation length. Crystalline silicon sensors have been used in tracking systems for decades, but are difficult to manufacture and costly to produce for large areas. We are exploring alternative sensor materials that are amenable to fast fabrication techniques used for thin film devices. Indium Phosphide pad sensors were fabricated at Argonne National Lab using commercially available InP:Fe 2-inch mono-crystal substrates. Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characterizations were performed to study the basic operating characteristics of a group of sensors. Micro-focused X-ray beams at Canadian Light Source and Diamond Light Source were used to study the response to ionizing radiation, and characterize the uniformity of the response for several devices. Electrical test results showed a high degree of performance uniformity between the 48 tested devices. X-ray test beam results showed good performance uniformity within tested devices after accounting for spatially-local defects and edge fields. As a result, this motivates further studies into thin film devices for future tracking detectors.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Study of CMOS strip sensor for future silicon tracker

Monolithic silicon sensors developed with High-Voltage CMOS (HV-CMOS) processes have become highly attractive for charged particle tracking. Compared with the standard CMOS sensors, HV-CMOS sensors can provide larger and deeper depletion regions that lead to larger signals and faster charge collection. They can provide high position resolution, low material budget, high radiation hardness and low cost that are desirable for high performance tracking in harsh collision environment. Various studies have been conducted to explore the technology feasibility for the large-area tracking systems at future collider experiments. CHESS (CMOS HV/HR Evaluation for Strip Sensor) sensor series have been developed as an alternative solution to the conventional silicon micro-strip detectors for the ATLAS inner tracker upgrade. The first prototype (named CHESS1) was to evaluate the diode geometry and the in-pixel analog electronics. Obtained test results were used to optimize the second prototype (named CHESS2). CHESS2 was implemented with a full digital readout architecture and realized as a full reticle sized monolithic sensor. Here, the basic characteristics of the CHESS2 prototype sensors and their performance in response to different input signals are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Silicon pinhole strip defects and their impact on ATLAS Inner Tracker HV current measurement

In preparation for the High-Luminsity LHC (HL-LHC) [1], the ATLAS detector will undergo major detector upgrades, including the replacement of the current Inner Detector with the new all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk) [2]. The ITk consists of a pixel detector close to the beamline surrounded by a large-area strip detector. During detector production, the electrical properties of silicon sensors and readout electronics must be characterized through a series of quality control (QC) and quality assurance tests. These tests ensure any defect is captured at the earliest possible stage. One such defect, callled a pinhole, occurs when the strip implant and the metal readout electrode are shorted through the intermediary dielectric layer. Notably, the introduction of pinholes during module assembly and pinhole effects on completed modules, especially on leakage current measurement circuitry, have never been studied. In this paper, we investigate the effect of such connections on the sensor leakage current measurements of completed modules and introduce new ways to locate pinholed strips. Here, with minor modifications to testing procedures, such defects are shown not to impede module testing or performance.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2023

Micro-Transfer Printing of Repeaters on Passive Interposer

Silicon-based sensors are central to particle physics experiments and particle tracking detectors. New-generation Large Focal Plane Arrays (LFPAs) cover areas that extend beyond several square meters. Distributing power and transporting data across such areas while maintaining good signal integrity is a complicated challenge. Tiling the detector on an organic interposer would be far too expensive and take too much space while offering little to no advantage regarding signal integrity. Passive silicon interposers are much less expensive and more integrable but would worsen signal integrity because of their inherent higher dielectric constant. Active interposers are a good compromise from the economic and signal integrity standpoint; unfortunately, their yield trends to zero for areas greater than a reticle size, making this technology incompatible with our application. NHanced proposes to duplicate the behavior of a high-yield, low-cost active interposer by printing active microcomponents on a passive interposer with our die-to-wafer micro-transfer printing (MTP) technology. This resolves the signal integrity and power distribution limitations. In Phase I, we designed and simulated analog and digital repeaters to be MTPed onto a passive silicon interposer test wafer.

2.5D↗
DOE OSTI2021

Lycoris - A large-area, high resolution beam telescope

We note that a high-resolution beam telescope is one of the most important and demanding infrastructure components at any test beam facility. Its main purpose is to provide reference particle tracks from the incoming test beam particles to the test beam users, which allows measurement of the performance of the device-under-test (DUT). LYCORIS, a six-plane compact beam telescope with an active area of ~ 10 x 10 cm 2 (extensible to 10 x 20 cm 2 ) was installed at the DESY II Test Beam Facility in 2019, to provide a precise momentum measurement in a 1 T solenoid magnet or to provide tracking over a large area. The overall design of Lycoris will be described as well as the performance of the chosen silicon sensor. The 25 μm pitch micro-strip sensor used for Lycoris was originally designed for the SiD detector concept for the International Linear Collider. It adopts a second metallization layer to route signals from strips to the bump-bonded KPiX ASIC and uses a wire-bonded flex cable for the connection to the DAQ and the power supply system. This arrangement eliminates the need for a dedicated hybrid PCB. Its performance was tested for the first time in this project. The system has been evaluated at the DESY II Test Beam Facility in several test-beam campaigns and has demonstrated an average single-point resolution of 7.07 μm.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Development of thinned silicon sensors on 8” wafers (CRADA FRA-2015-0015 Final Report)

Sensors fabricated from high resistivity, float zone, silicon material have been the basis of vertex detectors and trackers for the last 30 years. The areas of these devices have increased from a few square cm to >200 m 2 for the existing CMS tracker. CMS and ATLAS upgrades will each require more than 200 m 2 of silicon and the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter (HGC) will require more than 600 m 2 . Cost and complexity of assembly of these devices is related to the area of each module, which in turn is set by the area of the silicon sensors. A move from 4” and 6” wafers (the only sizes currently available) to 8” diameter in volume production has the potential for savings of tens of millions of dollars in the detector upgrade programs at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and future experiments. In addition to large area, the devices must be radiation hard, which can be achieved by the use of sensors thinned to 200 microns or less. The combination of wafer thinning and large wafer diameter is a significant technical challenge, and is the subject of this work.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

In-flight performance of S PIDER'S 280-GHz receivers

S PIDER is a balloon-borne instrument designed to map the cosmic microwave background at degree-angular scales in the presence of Galactic foregrounds. S PIDER has mapped a large sky area in the Southern Hemisphere using more than 2000 transition-edge sensors (TESs) during two NASA Long Duration Balloon flights above the Antarctic continent. During its first flight in January 2015, S PIDER observed in the 95 GHz and 150 GHz frequency bands, setting constraints on the B-mode signature of primordial gravitational waves. Its second flight in the 2022-23 season added new receivers at 280 GHz, each using an array of TESs coupled to the sky through feedhorns formed from stacks of silicon wafers. Here, these receivers are optimized to produce deep maps of polarized Galactic dust emission over a large sky area, providing a unique data set with lasting value to the field. In this work, we describe the instrument’s performance during S PIDER'S second flight.

280 GHz cosmology↗
DOE OSTI2023

Thin film charged particle detectors

Silicon tracking detectors have grown to cover larger surface areas up to hundreds of square meters, and are even taking over other sub-detectors, such as calorimeters. However, further improvements in tracking detector performance are more likely to arise from the ability to make a low mass detector comprised of a high ratio of active sensor to inactive materials, where dead materials include electrical services, cooling, mechanical supports, etc. In addition, the cost and time to build these detectors is currently large. Therefore, advancements in the fundamental technology of tracking detectors may need to look at a more transformative approach that enables extremely large area coverage with minimal dead material and is easier and faster to build. The advancement of thin film fabrication techniques has the potential to revolutionize the next-to-next generation of particle detector experiments. Some thin film deposition techniques have already been developed and widely used in the industry to make LED screens for TVs and monitors. If large area thin film detectors on the order of several square meters can be fabricated with similar performance as current silicon technologies, they could be used in future particle physics experiments. This paper aims to review the key fundamental performance criteria of existing silicon detectors and past research to use thin films and other semi-conductor materials as particle detectors in order to explore the important considerations and challenges to pursue thin film detectors.

Solid state detectors↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optimization Of In-field Alpha Spectrometry For Uranium Enrichment Determination In Uranium Hexafluoride

In response to needs identified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) research is underway to develop In-Field Alpha Spectrometry (IFAS) as a method to allow IAEA safeguards inspectors to collect samples of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) at processing facilities to assess and verify uranium enrichment. For sample collection, the IFAS method uses Single-Use Destructive Assay (SUDA) samplers, which contain thin zeolite coatings that trap UF6 gas and convert it to the safer, more stable form uranyl fluoride (as a dihydrate, UO2F2·2H2O). For alpha spectrometry, the IFAS instrument employs a large area silicon semiconductor transducer to detect and record alpha particle energy-deposition events. Over the past year optimization work has significantly increased the diameter of useful SUDA samples (from 12.7 mm to 48 mm), improved the manufacturability and reproducibility of SUDA samples, increased the area of the IFAS alpha spectrometer sensor from 1.2 cm to 3.1 cm, and improved source positioning within the IFAS. This paper will report on this optimization work, its impacts on IFAS performance, and future plans for IFAS miniaturization, improvements, and testing.

Chichester, David↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optimization of In-Field Alpha Spectrometry for Uranium Enrichment Determination in Uranium Hexafluoride

In response to needs identified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) research is underway to develop In-Field Alpha Spectrometry (IFAS) as a method to allow IAEA safeguards inspectors to collect samples of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) at processing facilities to assess and verify uranium enrichment. For sample collection, the IFAS method uses Single-Use Destructive Assay (SUDA) samplers, which contain thin zeolite coatings that trap UF6 gas and convert it to the safer, more stable form uranyl fluoride (UO2F2). For alpha spectrometry, the IFAS instrument employs a large area silicon semiconductor transducer to detect and record alpha particle energy-deposition events. Over the past year optimization work has significantly increased the diameter of useful SUDA samples (from 12.7 mm to 48 mm), improved the manufacturability and reproducibility of SUDA samples, increased the area of the IFAS alpha spectrometer sensor from 1.2 cm to 3.1 cm, and improved source positioning within the IFAS. This paper will report on this optimization work, its impacts on IFAS performance, and future plans for IFAS miniaturization, improvements, and testing.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗
DOE OSTI2025

The ATLAS Inner Tracker Strip Detector System for the Phase-II Large Hadron Collider Upgrade

ATLAS is currently preparing for the HL-LHC upgrade, with an all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk) that will replace the current Inner Detector. The ITk will feature a pixel detector surrounded by a strip detector, with the strip system consisting of four barrel layers and 12 endcap disks. After successful completion of a large-scale prototyping program, final design reviews have been completed in key areas, such as sensors, modules, front-end electronics, and ASICs. We present an overview of the strip system and highlight the final design choices of sensors, modules, and ASICs. We summarize the results achieved during prototyping and the current status of production and pre-production on various detector components, with an emphasis on QA and QC procedures.

Duden, Emily (ORCID:0000000290929344)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Setups for eliminating static charge of the ATLAS18 strip sensors

Abstract Construction of the new all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk), developed by the ATLAS collaboration to beable to track charged particles produced at the High-Luminosity LHC, started in 2020 and is expected tocontinue till 2028. The ITk detector will include 18,000 highly segmented and radiation hard n+-in-psilicon strip sensors (ATLAS18), which are being manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics. Mechanical and electrical characteristics of produced sensors are measured upon their delivery at several institutes participating in a complex Quality Control (QC) program. The QC tests performed on each individual sensor check the overall integrity and quality of the sensor.During the QC testing of ATLAS18 strip sensors, an increased number of sensors thatfailed the electrical tests was observed. In particular, IV measurements indicated an early breakdown,while large areas containing several tens or hundreds of neighbouring strips with low interstrip isolationwere identified by the Full strip tests, and leakage current instabilities were measured in a long-term leakage current stability setup. Moreover, a high surface electrostatic charge reaching a level of several hundreds of volts per inch was measured on a large number of sensors and on the plastic sheets, whichmechanically protect these sensors in their paper envelopes. Accumulated data indicates a clearcorrelation between observed electrical failures and the sensor charge-up.To mitigate the above-described issues, the QC testing sites significantly modified the sensor handlingprocedures and introduced sensor recovery techniques based on irradiation of the sensor surface with UVlight or application of intensive flows of ionized gas. In this presentation, we will describe the setupsimplemented by the QC testing sites to treat silicon strip sensors affected by static charge andevaluate the effectiveness of these setups in terms of improvement of the sensor performance.

Instruments & Instrumentation↗
DOE OSTI2022

Front-End Design for SiPM-Based Monolithic Neutron Double Scatter Imagers

Neutron double scatter imaging exploits the kinematics of neutron elastic scattering to enable emission imaging of neutron sources. Due to the relatively low coincidence detection efficiency of fast neutrons in organic scintillator arrays, imaging efficiency for double scatter cameras can also be low. One method to realize significant gains in neutron coincidence detection efficiency is to develop neutron double scatter detectors which employ monolithic blocks of organic scintillator, instrumented with photosensor arrays on multiple faces to enable 3D position and multi-interaction time pickoff. Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have several advantageous characteristics for this approach, including high photon detection efficiency (PDE), good single photon time resolution (SPTR), high gain that translates to single photon counting capabilities, and ability to be tiled into large arrays with high packing fraction and photosensitive area fill factor. However, they also have a tradeoff in high uncorrelated and correlated noise rates (dark counts from thermionic emissions and optical photon crosstalk generated during avalanche) which may complicate event positioning algorithms. We have evaluated the noise characteristics and SPTR of Hamamatsu S13360-6075 SiPMs with low noise, fast electronic readout for integration into a monolithic neutron scatter camera prototype. The sensors and electronic readout were implemented in a small-scale prototype detector in order to estimate expected noise performance for a monolithic neutron scatter camera and perform proof-of-concept measurements for scintillation photon counting and three-dimensional event positioning.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗