Science

Integrated circuits from IDEAS are used in science and basic research.
The fields are:

Nuclear and Particle Physics – Charged Particle Tracking, Particle Identification and Calorimetry
Discoveries in particle physics rely on detectors that allow physicists to characterize particles and fields. It is important to identify particles and measure their energy, momentum, and their trajectories.  Modern charged particle trackers are based on semi-conductors (silicon) or gas filled detectors. In modern trackers many electrical signals must be read out from the detectors, often simultaneously, with low noise and at very high rate. The requirements of charged particle trackers are ideally met by integrated circuits. Ring image Cherenkov detectors (RICH) and transition radiation detectors (TRD) allow scientists to identify the type of charged particles. TRD and RICH detectors are important for discoveries and tests of the theoretical models. RICH and TRD are designed such that the charged particles emit light (photons) when they traverse the detector medium (often a gas). The RICH allows one to measure the diameter of ring images that are created from a few Cherenkov photons. IDEAS has designed integrated circuits for charged particle tracking detectors, RICH, TRD and calorimeters. The ASICs have been used in large-scale experiment (BELLE, PHOBOS, NOMAD, ALPHA, ATHENA, etc.). Integrated circuits are ideal for modern charged particle trackers. IDEAS designs the detector front-end electronics to make scientists achieve their goals.

  • VATAGP7.1
  • VA1 in BELLE: Yokoyama et al. “Radiation Hardness of VA1 with Submicron Process Technology”, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 48, 3, 2001.
  • VA1_PRIME in ALICE TPC: The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC, JINST 3 S08002, (2008)
  • VA1 ASIC in NOMAD: Cervera-Villanueva, “Alignment of the NOMAD-STAR detector”, Nucl. Instr. Meth. A447 (2000) 100- 109.
  • VA1HDR1 in PHOBOS: Griesmayer et al. “Calibration System of the Phobos Silicon Detectors”, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Science, Vol. 48, No. 4, 2001.
  • VA1TA in ALPHA: Andresen et al. “The ALPHA-detector: Module Production and Assembly”, JINST 7 C01051, 2012.
  • VA2TA in ATHENA: Regenfus, “A cryogenic silicon micro-strip and pure-CsI detector for detection of antihydrogen annihilations”, Nucl. Instr. Meth. A501 (2003) 65-71.
  • VATA64HDR16.2 for SPIDER RICH, Bagliesi et al. “A custom front-end ASIC for the readout and timing of 64 SiPM photosensors”, Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.) 215 (2011) 344-348
  • VA32HDR12 in AMS TRD: arXiv:astro-ph/0608641v1, 29. Aug. 2006, Doetinchem et al. “Performance of the AMS-02 Transition Radiation Detector”.
  • VA1 in CLEO: Artuso et al. “The CLEO RICH detector”, Nucl. Instr. Meth. A554 (2005) 147-194

Applications at Neutron Facilities
Neutrons can be produced in specialized research facilities, for example at the European Spallation Source (ESS).  The neutrons are directed at the sample to be investigated. The neutrons scatter at the samples’ atomic nuclei, which gives information about the position and movement of the atoms in the sample. The neutron detectors acquire timed images of many scattered neutrons. The neutron detectors enable snapshots of biological and chemical processes. The challenge is to build neutron detectors with high spatial resolution and high count rate capability. Integrated circuits from IDEAS are used for the front-end readout of neutron detectors.

  • VA32HDR14.3 in ROSMAP for the Solid-State Neutron Detector (SoNDE)
  • IDE1180 and IDE1162 for multi-wire proportional chambers (MWPC) with boronated neutron converter materials