RD50 is an international project dealing with the development of radiation hard semiconductor devices for very high luminosity colliders. It was established in 2001 and currently has a total of 358 members from 60 participating institutions. The Czech Republic is represented by three institutions: Faculty of Mathematics and Physics CU, Institute of Physics CAS and the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics CTU.
Researchers from the Department of Detector Development and Data Processing have long been involved in the development and testing of silicon strip detectors for the future ATLAS ITk experiment at the HL-LHC collider as part of the RD50 collaboration. In these studies, they test surface electrical changes in the properties of silicon sensors irradiated by proton and neutron beams, or by gamma irradiation. Irradiated sensors must be tested at very low temperatures in a nitrogen atmosphere to avoid uncontrolled changes in silicon structure. For these tests, a brand new FormFactor Probe Station Tesla was purchased in 2018, allowing you to automatically contact various points on the sensor and measure its electrical properties when the sample is cooled down to -55°C. Surface radiation damage of sensors is tested by changes in their inter-strip capacitance and resistance. Parameters obtained by extensive study of electrical properties of non-irradiated and irradiated silicon detectors of different manufacturers for the ATLAS and CMS experiments will be used to create a unique complex model of radiation damage.
The staff of Department the Department of Detector Development and Data Processing ensures and organizes the irradiation of silicon sensors with Cobalt-60 gamma-ray in UJP Praha, a.s. and test-beams at CERN and DESY.
In the future, detector development activity is expected to shift to specific experiments prepared for new hadron accelerators such as the Future Circular Collider at CERN.
