Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
In Geneva, Switzerland, CERN's Large Hadron Collider covers an area 27 km in circumference. One of its detectors, ATLAS, was designed to verify the existence of the undiscovered Higgs particle.
Hamamatsu's photomultiplier tubes and silicon strip detectors (SSDs) are used at the core of ATLAS.
We asked our R&D staff why our SSDs were chosen.
The SSD is comprised of photodiode array structure of strips tiled upon a silicon substrate.
When a particle enters an SSD, a signal is output from an electrode. By arranging the SSD in multiple layers, the SSD can detect the tracks of particles.
For this experiment, we first improved the SSD with a radiation-resistant structure.
Because detectors used in such a big experiment are required to be used for 5 to 10 years in harsh radioactive environments.
To achieve this improvement, we repeatedly reviewed the electrode structure, patterns, and materials of the strip detectors.
Of utmost importance was the need to achieve uniform performance from each detector, particularly to ensure there were almost no dead channels among the 500 to 700 electrodes in 10 cm x 10 cm device.
After the product development, our next challenge was to manufacture tens of thousands of SSDs within a short period of time.
Overall, our strengths reside in the capacity of our facilities to provide stable mass production as well as in our highly motivated workforce.