Ultra-fast silicon detectors

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 730; pp. 226 - 231
• Main Authors: Sadrozinski, H. F.-W., Ely, S., Fadeyev, V., Galloway, Z., Ngo, J., Parker, C., Petersen, B., Seiden, A., Zatserklyaniy, A., Cartiglia, N., Marchetto, F., Bruzzi, M., Mori, R., Scaringella, M., Vinattieri, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-12-2013
• Subjects: Charge multiplication; Detectors; Fast silicon sensors; Gain; Particle accelerators; Pixel detectors; Position measurement; Sensors; Silicon; Silicon strip; Thin tracking sensors; Time measurements; Tracking; Silicon strip; Pixel detectors; Thin tracking sensors; Fast silicon sensors; Charge multiplication
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2013.06.033

We propose to develop a fast, thin silicon sensor with gain capable to concurrently measure with high precision the space (∼10μm) and time (∼10ps) coordinates of a particle. This will open up new application of silicon detector systems in many fields. Our analysis of detector properties indicates that it is possible to improve the timing characteristics of silicon-based tracking sensors, which already have sufficient position resolution, to achieve four-dimensional high-precision measurements. The basic sensor characteristics and the expected performance are listed, the wide field of applications are mentioned and the required R&D topics are discussed.
•We are proposing thin pixel silicon sensors with 10's of picoseconds time resolution.•Fast charge collection is coupled with internal charge multiplication.•The truly 4-D sensors will revolutionize imaging and particle counting in many applications.