A study of the optical and radiation damage properties of lead tungstate crystals

Lead tungstate (PbWO{sub 4}) is a new scintillating material which is of great interest for use in high energy electromagnetic calorimeters. It has a very high density, short radiation length and small Moliere radius and has a scintillation light output which peaks between 450--550 nm with a decay time in the range from 5--15 ns. It is presently being considered for use in two large, high resolution electromagnetic calorimeters, one for the CMS experiment and the other for the ALICE experiment, at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. In order to meet the stringent demands of these two experiments, the crystals are required to be of high purity, produced uniform light output, and, in the case of CMS, be resistant to radiation damage up to several megarads. Here, a study has been made of the optical and radiation damage properties of undoped and niobium doped lead tungstate crystals. Data were obtained on the optical absorbance, the intensity and decay time of the scintillation light output, and the radioluminescence and photoluminescence emission spectra. Radiation damage was studied in several undoped and niobium doped samples using {sup 60}Co gamma ray irradiation. The change in optical absorption and observed scintillation light output was measured as a function of dose up to total cumulative doses on the order of 800 krad. The radiation induced phosphorescence and thermoluminescence was also measured, as well as recovery from damage by optical bleaching and thermal annealing. An investigation was also made to determine trace element impurities in several samples

Embedded pitch adapters: a high-yield interconnection solution for strip sensors

A proposal to fabricate large area strip sensors with integrated, or embedded, pitch adapters is presented for the End-cap part of the Inner Tracker in the ATLAS experiment. To implement the embedded pitch adapters, a second metal layer is used in the sensor fabrication, for signal routing to the ASICs. Sensors with different embedded pitch adapters have been fabricated in order to optimize the design and technology. Inter-strip capacitance, noise, pick-up, cross-talk, signal efficiency, and fabrication yield have been taken into account in their design and fabrication. Inter-strip capacitance tests taking into account all channel neighbors reveal the important differences between the various designs considered. These tests have been correlated with noise figures obtained in full assembled modules, showing that the tests performed on the bare sensors are a valid tool to estimate the final noise in the full module. The full modules have been subjected to test beam experiments in order to evaluate the incidence of cross-talk, pick-up, and signal loss. The detailed analysis shows no indication of cross-talk or pick-up as no additional hits can be observed in any channel not being hit by the beam above 170 mV threshold, and the signal in those channels is always below 1% of the signal recorded in the channel being hit, above 100 mV threshold. First results on irradiated mini-sensors with embedded pitch adapters do not show any change in the interstrip capacitance measurements with only the first neighbors connected

Study of surface properties of ATLAS12 strip sensors and their radiation resistance

A radiation hard nþ-in-p micro-strip sensor for the use in the Upgrade of the strip tracker of the ATLAS experiment at the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) has been developed by the “ATLAS ITk Strip Sensor collaboration” and produced by Hamamatsu Photonics. Surface properties of different types of end-cap and barrel miniature sensors of the latest sensor design ATLAS12 have been studied before and after irradiation. The tested barrel sensors vary in “punchthrough protection” (PTP) structure, and the end-cap sensors, whose stereo-strips differ in fan geometry, in strip pitch and in edge strip ganging options. Sensors have been irradiated with proton fluences of up to 1 1016 neq/cm2 , by reactor neutron fluence of 1 1015 neq/cm2 and by gamma rays from 60Co up to dose of 1 MGy. The main goal of the present study is to characterize the leakage current for microdischarge breakdown voltage estimation, the inter-strip resistance and capacitance, the bias resistance and the effectiveness of PTP structures as a function of bias voltage and fluence. It has been verified that the ATLAS12 sensors have high breakdown voltage well above the operational voltage which implies that different geometries of sensors do not influence their stability. The inter-strip isolation is a strong function of irradiation fluence, however the sensor performance is acceptable in the expected range for HL-LHC. New gated PTP structure exhibits low PTP onset voltage and sharp cut-off of effective resistance even at the highest tested radiation fluence. The inter-strip capacitance complies with the technical specification required before irradiation and no radiation-induced degradation was observed. A summary of ATLAS12 sensors tests is presented including a comparison of results from different irradiation sites. The measured characteristics are compared with the previous prototype of the sensor design, ATLAS07

Charge collection and field profile studies of heavily irradiated strip sensors for the ATLAS inner tracker upgrade

The ATLAS group has evaluated the charge collection in silicon microstrip sensors irradiated up to a fluence of 1×1016 neq/cm2, exceeding the maximum of 1.6×1015 neq/cm2 expected for the strip tracker during the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) period including a safety factor of 2. The ATLAS12, n+-on-p type sensor, which is fabricated by Hamamatsu Photonics (HPK) on float zone (FZ) substrates, is the latest barrel sensor prototype. The charge collection from the irradiated 1×1 cm2 barrel test sensors has been evaluated systematically using penetrating β-rays and an Alibava readout system. The data obtained at different measurement sites are compared with each other and with the results obtained from the previous ATLAS07 design. The results are very consistent, in particular, when the deposit charge is normalized by the sensor's active thickness derived from the edge transient current technique (edge-TCT) measurements. The measurements obtained using β-rays are verified to be consistent with the measurements using an electron beam. The edge-TCT is also effective for evaluating the field profiles across the depth. The differences between the irradiated ATLAS07 and ATLAS12 samples have been examined along with the differences among the samples irradiated with different radiation sources: neutrons, protons, and pions. The studies of the bulk properties of the devices show that the devices can yield a sufficiently large signal for the expected fluence range in the HL-LHC, thereby acting as precision tracking sensors

Detailed Studies of Full-Size ATLAS12 Sensors

The “ATLAS ITk Strip Sensor Collaboration” R&D group has developed a second iteration of single-sided n+-in-p type micro-strip sensors for use in the tracker upgrade of the ATLAS experiment at the High-Luminosity (HL) LHC. The full size sensors measure approximately View the MathML source and are designed for tolerance against the View the MathML source fluence expected at the HL-LHC. Each sensor has 4 columns of 1280 individual View the MathML source long channels, arranged at View the MathML source pitch. Four batches comprising 120 sensors produced by Hamamatsu Photonics were evaluated for their mechanical, and electrical bulk and strip characteristics. Optical microscopy measurements were performed to obtain the sensor surface profile. Leakage current and bulk capacitance properties were measured for each individual sensor. For sample strips across the sensor batches, the inter-strip capacitance and resistance as well as properties of the punch-through protection structure were measured. A multi-channel probecard was used to measure leakage current, coupling capacitance and bias resistance for each individual channel of 100 sensors in three batches. The compiled results for 120 unirradiated sensors are presented in this paper, including summary results for almost 500,000 strips probed. Results on the reverse bias voltage dependence of various parameters and frequency dependence of tested capacitances are included for validation of the experimental methods used. Comparing results with specified values, almost all sensors fall well within specification

Evaluation of the performance of irradiated silicon strip sensors for the forward detector of the ATLAS Inner Tracker Upgrade

The upgrade to the High-Luminosity LHC foreseen in about ten years represents a great challenge for the ATLAS inner tracker and the silicon strip sensors in the forward region. Several strip sensor designs were developed by the ATLAS collaboration and fabricated by Hamamatsu in order to maintain enough performance in terms of charge collection efficiency and its uniformity throughout the active region. Of particular attention, in the case of a stereo-strip sensor, is the area near the sensor edge where shorter strips were ganged to the complete ones. In this work the electrical and charge collection test results on irradiated miniature sensors with forward geometry are presented. Results from charge collection efficiency measurements show that at the maximum expected fluence, the collected charge is roughly halved with respect to the one obtained prior to irradiation. Laser measurements show a good signal uniformity over the sensor. Ganged strips have a similar efficiency as standard strips

Validity of repeated initial rise thermoluminescence kinetic parameter determinations

The validity of thermoluminescence (TL) analysis by repeated initial rise measurements has been studied by computer simulation. Thermoluminescence described by 1st Order, 2nd Order, General One Trap and Interactive TL Kinetics was investigated. In the simulation each of the repeated temperature increase and decrease cycles contains a linear temperature increase followed by a decrease appropriate for radiative cooling, i.e. the latter is approximated by a decreasing exponential. The activation energies computed from the simulated emission are readily compared with those used to compute the TL emission. In all cases studied, the repeated initial rise technique provides reliable results only for single peak glow curves or for glow curves containing peaks that do not overlap and, if sufficiently separated, the lowest temperature peak in multipeak curves. Also the temperatures, or temperature cycles corresponding to correct activation energies occur on the low temperature side of the normal glow curve, often well below the peak temperature. A variety of misleading and/or incorrect results an be obtained when the repeated initial rise technique is applied to TL systems that produce overlapping peaks in the usual glow curve. 6 refs., 10 figs

Radiation damage in barium fluoride detector materials

To develop radiation hard detectors, particularly for high energy physics studies, radiation damage is being studied in BaF/sub 2/, both undoped and doped with La, Ce, Nd, Eu, Gd and Tm. Some dopants reduce radiation damage. In La doped BaF/sub 2/ they reduce the unwanted long lifetime luminescence which interferes with the short-lived fluorescence used to detect particles. Radiation induced coloring is being studied with facilities for making optical measurements before, during and after irradiation with /sup 60/C0 gamma rays. Doses of 10/sup 6/ rad, or less, create only ionization induced charge transfer effects since lattice atom displacement damage is negligible at these doses. All crystals studied exhibit color center formation, between approximately 200 and 800 nm, during irradiation and color center decay after irradiation. Thus only measurements made during irradiation show the total absorption present in a radiation field. Both undoped and La doped BaF/sub 2/ develop damage at minimum detectable levels in the UV---which is important for particle detectors. For particle detector applications these studies must be extended to high dose irradiations with particles energetic enough to cause lattice atom displacement damage. In principle, the reduction in damage provided by dopants could apply to other applications requiring radiation damage resistant materials

Thermoluminescence of the mineral components in granite

The thermoluminescence (TL) of the minerals in Climax Stock (Nevada, USA) granite has been studied. The principal mineral constituents are plagioclase, quartz, potassium feldspar and biotite. Pyrite, sphene apatite and zircon occur at one percent or less. All exhibit TL except biotite. The TL kinetics were determined for plagioclase, quartz, potassium feldspar and pyrite. Plagioclase and potassium feldspar exhibit second order and pyrite first orker kinetics. Natural TL of quartz follows second order and artificial TL first order kinetics. However, in these four minerals unrealistic kinetic parameters are often obtained; thus more general kinetics, e.g. interactive kinetics, may apply. 8 figures

Thermoluminescence kinetics of pyrite (FeS sub 2 )

Thermoluminescence of pyrite (FeS{sub 2}) has been investigated to study the kinetics of single peak glow curves. The material used normally exhibits one large and four small peaks. However a glow curve can be obtained with only the large single peak that is suitable for testing thermoluminescence kinetics. Glow curves from aliquots of a single natural pyrite crystal studied in detail contain two low intensity thermoluminescence (TL) peaks at {approx}90{degree} and {approx}250{degree}C, and two chemiluminescence (CL) peaks at {approx}350{degree} and {approx}430{degree}C. The CL peaks are largely removable by initially heating the sample chamber under vacuum, pumping through liquid nitrogen traps, and recording glow curves immediately after helium is introduced, procedures which reduce system contaminants that react with pyrite. The shape, the variation of the temperature of the peak maximum (T{sub max}) with dose, and the retrapping to recombination cross section ratio {sigma} of the large 250{degree}C peak are better described by the general one trap (GOT) kinetic equation, the basic equation from which the 1st and 2nd order kinetic equations are obtained as special cases (see text), than by the 1st and 2nd order equations. 12 refs., 7 figs