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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Phys.
Sec. Radiation Detectors and Imaging
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2024.1497267
This article is part of the Research Topic High-performance silicon sensors for particle tracking in 4 dimensions: achievements and future challenges View all articles

Characterisation of 3D trench silicon pixel sensors irradiated at \textbf{ 1$\cdot$10${}^{\textbf{17}}$ 1 MeV n{\small{eq}} cm${}^{\textbf{-2}}$}

Provisionally accepted
Matthew Addison Matthew Addison 1Andrea Bellora Andrea Bellora 2,3Federica Borgato Federica Borgato 4,5Davide Brundu Davide Brundu 6,7Alessandro Cardini Alessandro Cardini 6Gian Matteo Cossu Gian Matteo Cossu 6Gian-Franco Dalla Betta Gian-Franco Dalla Betta 8,9Luigi La Delfa Luigi La Delfa 6Adriano Lai Adriano Lai 6Andrea Lampis Andrea Lampis 6*Angelo Loi Angelo Loi 6Maria Margherita Obertino Maria Margherita Obertino 2,3Stefania Vecchi Stefania Vecchi 10Michele Verdoglia Michele Verdoglia 5,6
  • 1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science and Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, England, United Kingdom
  • 2 INFN Sezione di Torino, Torino, Italy
  • 3 Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Università di Torino, Torino, Italy
  • 4 INFN, Sezione di Padova, Padova, Italy
  • 5 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
  • 6 INFN, Sezione di Cagliari, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
  • 7 Dipartimento di Fisica, Facoltà di Scienze, Università di Cagliari, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
  • 8 TIFPA INFN, Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy
  • 9 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università di Trento, Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy
  • 10 INFN Sezione di Ferrara, Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The 3D trench silicon pixel sensors developed by the TimeSPOT collaboration have demonstrated exceptional performance, even after exposure to extreme radiation fluences up to 1 • 10 17 1 MeV n eq /cm 2 . This study assesses the radiation tolerance of these sensors using minimum ionizing particles during a beam test campaign. The results indicate that while radiation damage reduces charge collection efficiency and overall detection efficiency, these losses can be mitigated to levels comparable to non-irradiated sensors by increasing the reverse bias voltage. Charge multiplication was observed and characterised for the first time in 3D trench sensors, revealing a distinct operating regime post-irradiation achievable at bias voltages close to 300 V. Additionally, the timing performance of irradiated sensors remains comparable to their non-irradiated counterparts, underscoring their resilience to radiation damage. Currently, 3D trench silicon detectors are among the fastest and most radiation-hard pixel sensors available for vertex detectors in high-energy physics colliders. These findings highlight the potential of these sensors for new 4D tracking systems of future experiments at the Future Circular Hadron Collider (FCC-hh), advancing the capabilities of radiation-hard sensor technology.

    Keywords: Particle tracking detectors, solid-state detectors, Timing detectors, 4D Tracking, Radiation hardness, High time resolution, High luminosity, FCC-hh

    Received: 16 Sep 2024; Accepted: 21 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Addison, Bellora, Borgato, Brundu, Cardini, Cossu, Dalla Betta, La Delfa, Lai, Lampis, Loi, Obertino, Vecchi and Verdoglia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Andrea Lampis, INFN, Sezione di Cagliari, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

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