The ATLAS experiment is replacing its inner detector
with a new Inner Tracker (ITk), with the new device in place by 2028.
The collision intensity and radiation background will mean that
both the particle sensors and their associated readout electronics must
be more radiation-tolerant and run at much higher data
transfer speeds. In Toronto we will be building silicon
tracker modules in association with Celestica, a company specializing in the
fabrication of high-density electronics. As part of this project we will be testing and characterizing miniature silicon sensors that have been irradiated in a reactor.
This is to simulate how the real sensors will behave after being exposed to radiation from the LHC beams. We use a probe station, a Strontium-90 source, and a laser system at low temperature to study the sensors.
One, or more, students involved with this project will help to modify our sensor testing setup, take data with the miniature sensors, and help to understand the interesting
physics of these devices. There is plenty of scope for electronics, hardware, software and most of all, thinking. All in the environment of a small self-contained experiment.
The picture opposite shows one of our first complete silicon sensor modules, with its associated readout chips.
Contact:
Bob Orr,
Peter Krieger , or
William Trischuk
At CERN a student with, for example, an
IPP summer fellowship
will be able to join our efforts in understanding how the prototype ITk readout electronics
responds to neutron and ionizing radiation dosage.
Contact:
Richard Teuscher
We will consider applications from students not holding a USRA
award, but USRA recipients are given priority. There may be some
opportunity for some of these students to spend at least part of the
summer at CERN, but that will depend on funding and the nature of the project.
For more information, contact the people listed above for each position.