M. Povoli

Slim edges in double-sided silicon 3D detectors

Minimization of the insensitive edge area is one of the key requirements for silicon radiation detectors to be used in future silicon trackers. In 3D detectors this goal can be achieved with the active edge, at the expense of a high fabrication process complexity. In the framework of the ATLAS 3D sensor collaboration, we produced modified 3D silicon sensors with a double-sided technology. While this approach is not suitable to obtain active edges, because it does not use a support wafer, it allows for a new type of edge termination, the slim edge. In this paper we report on the development of the slim edge, from numerical simulations to design and testing, proving that it works effectively without increasing the fabrication complexity of silicon 3D detectors, and that it could be further optimized to reduce the insensitive edge region to less than 100 μm.

Development of Double-Sided Full-Passing-Column 3D Sensors at FBK

We report on the main design and technological characteristics related to the latest 3D sensor process developments at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK, Trento, Italy). With respect to the previous version of this technology, which involved columnar electrodes of both doping types etched from both wafer sides and stopping at a short distance from the opposite surface, passing-through columns are now available. This feature ensures better performance, but also a higher reproducibility, which is of concern in medium volume productions. In particular, this R&D project was aimed at establishing a suitable technology for the production of 3D pixel sensors to be installed into the ATLAS Insertable B-Layer. An additional benefit is the feasibility of slim edges, which consist of a multiple ohmic column termination with an overall size as low as 100 μm. Eight batches with two different wafer layouts have been fabricated using this approach, and including several design options, among them the ATLAS 3D sensor prototypes compatible with the new read-out chip FE-I4.

Test beam results of 3D silicon pixel sensors for the ATLAS upgrade

Results on beam tests of 3D silicon pixel sensors aimed at the ATLAS Insertable B-Layer and High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) upgrades are presented. Measurements include charge collection, tracking efficiency and charge sharing between pixel cells, as a function of track incident angle, and were performed with and without a 1.6 T magnetic field oriented as the ATLAS inner detector solenoid field. Sensors were bump-bonded to the front-end chip currently used in the ATLAS pixel detector. Full 3D sensors, with electrodes penetrating through the entire wafer thickness and active edge, and double-sided 3D sensors with partially overlapping bias and read-out electrodes were tested and showed comparable performance.

Development of active and slim edge terminations for 3D and planar detectors

We report novel solutions for the edge termination in silicon detectors. In the framework of a project aimed at the optimization of 3D detectors with active edge, we have developed both active edges using a single sided process with support wafer, and slim edges using a double sided process without support wafer. TCAD simulations and experimental tests have been carried out to validate and compare the proposed approaches. While active edges can provide a better sensitivity up to a few microns from the physical edge, slim edges can simplify the fabrication technology while limiting the dead area at the edge to about 50 µm. The main design and technological issues are reported in this paper, along with selected results from TCAD simulations and electro-optical tests performed on these devices.

Development of modified 3D detectors at FBK

We report on the main design and technological issues related to a modified 3D-DTTC (Double-side, Double-Type-Column) detector process at FBK (Trento, Italy). With respect to the previous versions of this technology, which involved columnar electrodes of both doping types etched from both wafer sides and stopping at a short distance from the opposite surface, passing-through columns are now available. This is expected to enhance the performance but most of all to make it more reproducible, having in mind medium volume productions. An additional benefit is the feasibility of slim edges, which consist of a multiple ohmic column termination with an overall size in the order of 200 μm. Two batches of detectors have been fabricated at FBK using this modified 3D-DDTC approach, and with two different wafer layouts including several design options, among them the ATLAS 3D sensor prototypes compatible with the new read-out chip FE-I4. Selected results from the characterization of test structures from the first processed wafer are reported.

Simulation and laboratory test results of 3D CMS pixel detectors for HL-LHC

The CMS pixel detector is the innermost tracking device at the LHC, reconstructing interaction vertices and charged particle trajectories. The current planar sensors located in the innermost layer of the pixel detector will be exposed to very high fluences which will degrade their performances. As a possible replacement for planar pixel sensors in the High Luminosity-LHC (HL-LHC), 3D silicon technology is under consideration due to its expected good performance in harsh radiation environments. Studies are also in progress for using 3D silicon pixel detectors in near-beam proton spectrometers at the LHC. Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) plays a key role in fabricating 3D silicon detectors in which readout and ohmic electrodes are processed through the silicon substrate instead of being implanted on the silicon surface. 3D pixel devices considered in this study were processed at FBK (Trento, Italy), bump bonded to the CMS pixel readout chip, and characterized in the laboratory. Numerical simulations were also carried out. We report on selected results from laboratory measurements and TCAD simulations.

Recent developments and future perspectives in 3D silicon radiation sensors

In this paper we report on the most recent achievements of the ATLAS 3D Sensors Collaboration in the development of silicon 3D sensors. Results from 3D pixels production for the ATLAS Insertable B-Layer (IBL) are presented, showing the high quality and good process reproducibility of the technology. In view of the future detector upgrades at the LHC, a new generation of 3D pixel sensors will be developed. This will require some new ideas and the solution of technological challenges. Both will briefly be addressed in this paper.

Design and testing of an innovative slim-edge termination for silicon radiation detectors

Silicon detectors with reduced or no dead volume along the edges have been attracting a lot of interest in the past few years in many different fields. High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments are demanding this feature to ease the assembly of the innermost tracking layers, where space and material budget are usually a concern. At the same time, other applications like X-Ray imaging, are starting to use matrixes of silicon detectors to cover increasingly larger areas and, in order to do so in a seamless way, minimum edge extension is required. In this paper we report on the design and testing of a new edge termination for silicon 3D detectors able to reduce the edge extension to about 50 μm without increasing the fabrication complexity. In addition, the same edge termination can also be applied to planar detectors with little additional process complexity.

Novel 3D silicon sensors for neutron detection

In this paper we report a novel 3D sensor structure to be used as a neutron detector in combination with an organic converter material based on polysiloxane. The first prototypes of the proposed device are presented, with emphasis on the experimental characterization. Selected results from the functional tests (with alpha particle source and pulsed laser scans) are discussed with the aid of TCAD simulations.

Edgeless and slim-edge solutions for silicon pixel sensors

Applications of silicon pixel sensors in future HEP experiments (e.g., at the HL LHC) are setting increasing demands on the minimization of the dead area at the edge, calling for adequate design/technological solutions for edge termination. In this respect, significant advantages are offered by the adoption of 3D fabrication technologies, which allow for a wider choice of edge designs (among them, active edges) owing to the use of the third dimension within the sensor substrate. This paper reviews the most interesting approaches to edgeless and slim-edge sensors, with emphasis on the original solutions developed by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Trento, Italy) in collaboration with the University of Trento and INFN in the past few years. In particular, planar sensors with active edge and double-sided 3D sensors with slim-edge are discussed. The main design and technological issues will be reported, as well as selected results from numerical device simulations and electrical/functional tests performed before and after irradiation.