Final Report Summary - AIDA (Advanced European Infrastructures for Detectors at Accelerators)
Executive Summary:
After four years of activity, AIDA has coordinated a joint European effort for detector R&D and significantly improved a number of key European research infrastructures enabling advanced detector development for the high energy physics community. The project has achieved the scientific objectives and technical goals defined in Annex I of the Grant Agreement. The activities completed in all work packages will have an impact on the development of detector technologies for future accelerators:
-Generic detector description software toolkits for data processing applications in HEP experiments were developed and are being used by the ILD, CLICdp and the three FCC detectors.
-Various technologies to meet the requirements of future pixel detectors, such as integration of pixel sensors with CMOS read-out circuits and the fabrication of TSVs for interconnection, were investigated. The large aspect ratio TSV technology proved successful and it can now be applied to almost any ASIC. Furthermore, two sets of IP blocks (65 nm CMOS and 180 nm SOI CMOS) were defined, designed and tested and serve as basis for a shared library of designs of readout chips for future detectors.
-Strong links with the European detector industry were established by AIDA through the organization of a series of events with key experts from industry and academia. In total, 7 Academia-meets-Industry events with more than 100 participating companies were organized. An interactive tool, called Collaboration Spotting to analyse different technologies using publications and patents was developed and is also being used by communities other than HEP.
-A total of 691 researchers carried out 202 projects at European test beam and irradiation facilities (CERN, DESY, JSI, UCL, KIT) in the framework of the AIDA Transnational Access activities where the contractual commitments in terms of access units were largely exceeded. The impact on detector R&D can be assessed by the significant number of publications resulting from Transnational Access activities: 121 for the full project duration.
-AIDA contributed to the improvement and equipment of irradiation and test beam lines: new beam line characterisation infrastructure was installed, commissioned at Frascati and is now available to facility users, a new proton irradiation facility, IRRAD, was designed and constructed in the CERN PS East Area, a new gamma irradiation facility, GIF++, recently constructed in the CERN North Area was equipped to welcome users. An online database, called IMHOTEP, on the properties of irradiated material and components was developed and populated with data. A new beam tracking telescope was commissioned and is now available to users. The TASD detector was commissioned and is operational and the MIND detector has been redesigned for the benefit of the neutrino community. In the framework of AIDA, the CERN and DESY EDMS systems became operational as data management platforms for common test beam experiments and contain about 150 documents each. The common DAQ is also operational and is used by the telescope community.
-New detector prototypes (precision pixel detectors, gaseous and silicon tracking devices, highly granular calorimeters) were evaluated and characterized under AIDA, for the benefit of the European detector R&D community. The gaseous tracking detector was upgraded at DESY with a superconducting magnet and is being used by many groups. The CERN MPGD workshop is producing large area detectors. The infrastructures to test novel, highly granular calorimeter concepts, including electronics were also developed. In addition, a dedicated Silicon micro-strips telescope was developed so that a large-scale common test beam can now be scheduled at CERN facilities.
The R&D performed within AIDA will strengthen the excellence of the European detector community and its leading role in the major HEP experiments. Besides the direct impact on European detector research and industry, AIDA has indirect impact on the society at large. This is showcased by the organization of student tutorials and in particular by the number of PhD students (78) that have contributed to AIDA activities. Furthermore, some of the technologies and software developed within AIDA (ASICs, CMOS sensors, Geant4) can be used in applications outside of particle physics such as medical instrumentation, environmental monitoring and space science.
Project Context and Objectives:
2. PROJECT CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES
2.1 CONTEXT
The success of experimental particle physics, such as the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN relies on cutting-edge technologies in the field of both accelerators and detectors. The LHC experiments like ATLAS and CMS are an impressive result of a 10-year detector R&D phase with many tests (particle beam and irradiation), followed by almost another decade of construction to be operational for the LHC start-up in 2010. New challenges are now opening up by the upgrade of the detectors for the High Luminosity LHC, the leptons colliders (B factory, ILC, CLIC, etc.), the Future Circular Collider (FCC) programme at CERN and the new neutrinos detectors for long baseline projects.
In line with the European Strategy for Particle Physics , AIDA (http://cern.ch/aida) addressed the upgrade, improvement and integration of key research infrastructures in Europe, enabled the development of advanced detector technologies and software, also providing transnational access to these facilities. By focusing on common R&D and use of such infrastructure, the project integrated the detector development community, encouraging cross fertilization of ideas and results, and providing a coherent framework for the main technical developments of detector R&D in Europe.
This project included a large consortium of 38 beneficiaries, covering a large fraction of the European community of detector R&D for particle physics. The collaboration aimed at taking advantage of the world-class infrastructures existing in Europe for the advancement of research on detectors for future accelerator facilities, enabling Europe to remain at the forefront of particle physics.
2.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project included a Management and Communication work package, three Networking work packages, three Transnational Access and two Joint Research Activities.
2.2.1 Management and communication
In addition to running the project, following-up the deliverables and milestones and maximizing its scientific and technical output for the High Energy Physics (HEP) community, an important management objective was to strengthen the collaborative aspects between the partners towards new ideas/projects within and outside the scope of AIDA.
2.2.2 Networking activities
AIDA had three networking activities: WP2 (Development of software common tools), WP3 (Microelectronics and detector/electronics integration) and WP4 (Relations with industry). These networking activities were the suitable places to share technologies and explore new promising ideas.
WP2 aimed at creating a network to develop new software tools that could be used by the whole HEP community. The focus thereby was on creating reusable software packages that were central to the data processing in particle physics detectors, such as the description of detector geometry and material properties. This included misalignment tools for the reconstruction of charged particle tracks, and algorithms for combining these tracks with calorimeter showers into fully reconstructed particles, following the so called Particle Flow paradigm. These software tools were expected to be designed in a framework-independent way, so that they could be reused beyond the specific context or experiment in which they have been originally developed. The work was organized in two scientific tasks. Task 2.2 ,“Geometry Toolkit for HEP”, aimed at improving and unifying the description of complex geometrical shapes, and creating software infrastructure to describe complete particle physics detectors to a high level of detail for the purpose of simulation and reconstruction. Task 2.3 or “Reconstruction toolkit for HEP” provided generic software tools and algorithms for track finding and fitting, detector alignment and particle flow reconstruction for highly granular calorimeters.
WP3 aimed to establish a network of groups working collaboratively on advanced semiconductor technologies and high density interconnection processes for applications in particle physics at HEP facilities. The main motivation came from the strict requirements set on pixel detectors for tracking and vertexing at future particle physics experiments at HL-LHC, B factories and Linear Colliders. To go beyond the state-of-the-art, the main issues were studying low-mass high-bandwidth applications with radiation hardness capabilities and low power consumption, offering complex functionality with small pixel size and without dead regions. The interfaces and interconnects of sensors to electronic readout integrated circuits are a key challenge for new research infrastructures. New technologies like 3D integration and small scale CMOS and SOI technologies have the potential to provide solutions to these issues. This WP assessed the possibilities of 3D integration (Task 3.2) and provided IP blocks for these advanced ASIC technologies (Task 3.3). These IP blocks provided the basis for a common library that could be shared among microelectronic designers, simplifying the development of new detector readout chips.
WP4 addressed relations with industry which plays a crucial role in the construction of large particle physics experiments. The huge number of detector components would make use of the most advanced technologies that are expected to reach full industrial maturity after the end of the project. Extremely challenging requirements of future HEP experiments call for close collaboration between academia and industry. This collaboration should start as early as possible and address prototyping at the R&D stage, through to qualification testing and later tendering and purchasing. Within the above context, the overall goal of WP4 was to address the technology needs, specifications and trends in several areas of particle physics over the next 5-10 years, via relations between the particle physics experimental community and industry, organized on topical academia-industry workshops. These interactions also looked at spin-off applications, including collaboration and co-development with other fields where this might be relevant. This networking activity emphasised the relevance of particle physics detector R&D to other areas of research, as well as to society in general.
2.2.3 Transnational access
Testing detector prototype performance using particle beams is a mandatory step to assess the viability of technologies and geometries before the final design of a detector, or to calibrate assembled modules. Similarly, irradiation facilities are essential to select materials and components that can withstand the radiation environment of future experiments. Granting access to these facilities to European R&D teams is therefore of prime importance, especially for young PhD/students for whom these tests are essential training in instrumentation.
The Transnational access activities were organized along two ways, benefitting from world-class European Infrastructures:
• Test beam facilities at DESY-WP5 (low energy electrons and positrons) and CERN-WP6 (wide range of particles and energy).
• Irradiation facilities, mainly targeted to cover the LHC detectors upgrade in terms of flux and particles types, at the TRIGA-Mark-II reactor for neutron irradiations at JSI in Slovenia; the Neutron Irradiation Facility, Light Ion Irradiation Facility and Gamma Irradiation Facility at UCL in Belgium and the Compact Cyclotron for proton irradiations at KIT in Germany (WP7) and at CERN for protons and mixed field irradiations (WP6).
2.2.4 Joint research activities
The two JRA activities were WP8 (Improvement and equipment of irradiation and test beam lines) and WP9 (Advanced infrastructure for detector R&D). They were mainly focused on upgrading existing detector infrastructures or creating new ones in view of the new challenges to be tackled.
WP8 aimed at upgrading test beams and irradiation facilities to match the requirements of the new experiments, testing materials and components for their performance in a radiation field and coordinating beam tests of the Linear Collider community and providing a common DAQ (data acquisition) for these tests. Particular objectives were to study the implementation of a low energy beam line at CERN for neutrino experiments, to improve the Frascati Beam Test Facility user infrastructure, to design a new proton irradiation facility at CERN and deliver part of its infrastructure (movable tables, cold boxes, beam and fluence monitoring). Further deliverables were the creation of a public online database on the properties of irradiated materials and components and irradiation tests on specific items, the design and construction of neutrino physics prototype detectors (TASD and MIND), user infrastructure for the new gamma irradiation facility GIF++ at CERN and the commissioning of a beam telescope to be produced by WP9. Finally, test beam activities needed to be fostered through infrastructure projects providing a powerful and unified control and acquisition system and an engineering data management system framework serving as a central data management platform for large international HEP collaborations.
WP9 aimed at the development of common infrastructure, accessible under the Transnational Access (TA) scheme, in support of the detector R&D programmes in Europe. The activity was organized around three HEP detector fields: gaseous detectors, pixel and Silicon detectors, and finally calorimeters. In the first one, the goal was to upgrade the gaseous tracking test stand for the Time Projection Chamber at DESY (refurbished solenoid, readout electronics) and to extend the capability of the CERN Micro Pattern Gas Detector workshop to produce larger area chambers. Measuring the position accuracy performance of many detectors needs a very precise external measurement to be compared with. Such an apparatus is in large demand in the community. While an FP6-EUDET pixel telescope was already in use under the AIDA TA, the objective was to deliver a new one, based permanently at CERN and satisfying the user community in terms of excellent spatial resolution but also providing LHC-style time resolution and self-triggering capability with an upgraded infrastructure (power supply, CO2 cooling plant, etc. ). For the calorimeter application, the resolution requirements are relaxed but the area to cover is larger, therefore a beam telescope with micro strips had to be built. New trends in calorimetry are towards ultra-granular detector to apply particle flow reconstruction. Various absorbers and sensitive media needed to be explored as well as detector readout: dedicated infrastructures for these tests were produced. Finally the matching of the simulation of hadronic showers to data was a key element to be assessed with the recorded test-beam data.
Project Results:
3. THE MAIN S&T RESULTS / FOREGROUND
3.1 AIDA NETWORKING ACTIVITIES
AIDA had three networking activities: WP2 (Development of software common tools), WP3 (Microelectronics and detector/electronics integration) and WP4 (Relations with industry).
3.1.1 Development of common software tools (WP2)
Geometry Toolkit for HEP
The main result of this task was the development of a generic detector description software toolkit for simulation and reconstruction applications in HEP experiments such as Linear Collider, LHC and the recently launched FCC study.
A detailed and realistic description of the detector geometry and its material properties is an essential component for the development of almost all data processing applications in HEP experiments. This is particularly true for the case of Monte Carlo simulations, where the exact knowledge of the position, shape and material contents of every detector component is crucial for the accuracy of the simulated detector response and underlying physics. For the subsequent processing steps of digitization and reconstruction it is equally important to have an accurate description of the detector geometry, which should ideally be created from the same source in order to avoid possible inconsistencies. The DD4hep (Detector Description for HEP) software package, developed in AIDA, is a generic geometry toolkit that builds on the two most widely used software packages in HEP: Geant4 and ROOT. It combines their independent geometry implementations into one consistent detector description model, which is augmented with an extension mechanism for attaching user defined data objects at every level of the geometrical hierarchy. Thereby it allows providing all the physical properties of the individual detector components that are needed at every step of the data processing, such as alignment constants, measurement surfaces or visualization attributes. Through this mechanism it is possible to provide appropriate and consistent views on to the detector geometry for simulation, reconstruction, analysis and visualization of HEP data from one single source.
The sub-package DDRec consists of a set of generic pre-defined data structures and application interfaces providing the additional information needed for reconstruction, such as for example measurement surfaces with material properties (automatically averaged along given thicknesses from the detailed model) for the purpose of track fitting. ILD, CLICdp and the three FCC detector design studies now actively use DD4hep.
As mentioned above, Geant4 and ROOT have both independent implementations of geometry libraries, at the cores of which are the description of basic geometrical shapes and the functionality to compose them into arbitrary complex detector setups and to navigate in these. It is estimated that 70-80% of the effort for code maintenance is due to these geometrical primitives in both implementations. In order to overcome this situation the USolids package was developed in AIDA. After the creation of an extensive testing suite for all shape implementations and the corresponding geometrical methods, such as isPointInside() or distanceToOut(), a detailed benchmarking between the two existing implementations was performed in order to select the best algorithms for the new unified library. Wherever possible, new and more efficient algorithms with significantly better performance have been developed, such as for Multi-Union, Tessellated Solid, Polyhedra, and Polycone.
USolids was first released in Geant4 10.0 as an optional component and will eventually become the new standard. It is planned to also integrate USolids into ROOT soon.
Reconstruction Toolkit for HEP
A generic pattern recognition, track fitting and alignment software were developed in this task as well as an advanced particle flow software framework. These tools are already in use by the LC, LHC and neutrino physics communities.
Tracking toolkit
The reconstruction of the momentum and path of charged particles forms an essential part of data processing in HEP experiments. The task is typically divided into the two steps of finding the track, the pattern recognition; and into computing the best set of parameters using fitting algorithms such as Kalman-filters or the General Broken Lines (GBL) algorithm. Tools for both steps have been developed and combined through the definition of an abstract interface that links both tasks without coupling them directly, allowing the choice of the best combination of pattern recognition and track fitting tools. In order to take material effects like multiple scattering and energy loss into account, detailed knowledge of the detector geometry is essential. This is provided through the DDRec interface into the DD4hep detector model.
The tracking tools have been partially developed in the context of the CMS experiment, preparing for the Run 2 of the LHC with its envisaged high pile-up environment and partly in the context of the ILD detector concept for International Linear Collider. Immediate application to both experiments demonstrates the usability of the software tools. Care has been taken to have as little as possible dependencies to the actual frameworks in order to allow for the re-use of the tracking tools.
Alignment Software Tools
The accurate determination of the positions of elements of a detector is essential for obtaining the optimal detector performance. Therefore alignment methods, which evaluate the position of detector elements, are needed for any particle physics experiment. A software package called BACH (Basic Alignment and Reconstruction Chain) has been written to provide a common tool for the alignment of telescope-like detectors. It describes the complete analysis chain of a telescope detector, from simulation to reconstruction. The initial version of this tool has been applied to support the operations of the Timepix telescope supported in WP8.
In parallel, tools for monitoring the misalignment and allowing for the correction of weak modes of the vertex detector (VELO) of the LHCb experiment have been developed and helped to improve the Impact Parameter resolution.
Particle Flow Software Tools
Particle Flow reconstruction of highly granular detectors is a relatively novel concept in particle physics. Due to the nature of the problem, the pattern recognition algorithms tend to be complex and involve many steps. Furthermore, the large number of energy deposits requires a robust and efficient software framework. The PandoraPFA software toolkit provides such a framework for implementing advanced particle flow and pattern recognition algorithms that can be used across multiple projects and experiments. To demonstrate its effectiveness, a first version of a complete set of particle flow reconstruction algorithms have been implemented and benchmarked in the context of the ILC and CLIC detectors.
Furthermore, interfaces and algorithms have been provided that enable PandoraPFA to be used for studies for future neutrino experiments, both LBNE in the US and LBNO in Europe, by reconstructing events in LAr-TPCs.
Trigger Simulation
Developing a new tracking detector using full Monte Carlo simulations is a rather time consuming process since it requires a significant effort to implement each new detailed geometry model and adaptation of the pattern recognition algorithms involved. For the expected high multiplicities of charged particles at the HL-LHC a fast track trigger at first level with an optimized tracker layout will have to be implemented in the CMS experiment. The tkLayout tool was developed to address this issue. It allows for rapid evaluation of different tracker geometries and their key characteristics, such as material budget, resolution and trigger performance.
3.1.2 Microelectronics and detector/electronics integration (WP3)
New pixel detectors are requiring better spatial resolution and small occupancy in high density tracks environment, therefore small pixel size and reduced material are mandatory. 3D interconnection is the most promising way to solve this issue and the exploration of these technologies was the main activity of this WP. For such a process, dedicated and more and more complex ASICs, need to be designed: creating a common library of IP blocks is therefore an added value for the HEP community.
3D interconnection
The technologies investigated for the 3D interconnection between the sensors and readout chips for the fabrication of pixel detectors, led to many diverse results. Large diameter TSVs have proven to be a mature technology for detectors of the next decade. Thanks to the latest technology they can be applied to almost any ASIC. On the other hand, processes aiming for high density interconnections with high aspect ratio, narrow vias provided mixed results.
This activity was structured in eight subprojects testing different 3D technologies using different vendors. The original objectives of these subprojects were:
a) Interconnection of the ATLAS FEI4 chips to sensors using bump bonding from Fraunhofer-IZM (large interconnection pitch).
b) Interconnection of MEDIPIX3 chips to pixel sensors using the CEA-LETI process.
c) Interconnection of chips from Tezzaron/Chartered to edgeless sensors and/or CMOS sensors using an advanced interconnection process (T-MICRO or others).
d) Readout ASICs in 65nm technology interconnected using the CEA-LETI or EMFT process.
e) Interconnection of ATLAS FEI4 chips to sensors using SLID interconnection from Fraunhofer-EMFT.
f) 3D interconnection of 2 layers of Geiger-Mode APD arrays with integrated readout in Tezzaron/Chartered technology.
g) Interconnection of the two layers of a 2-Tier readout ASIC for a CZT pixel sensor using the Fraunhofer-EMFT SLID technology.
Since the subprojects explored different technologies with various challenges, it could not be expected that all of them produced the same level of results over the timespan of the project. Some subprojects investigated 3D technologies which have the potential to lead to high-density 3D interconnection processes but still face technological challenges. Others used more mature technologies. They do not offer highest interconnection density but can still lead to substantial improvements of the detector performance. As expected these latter projects turned out to be the most successful ones. This was the case for the subproject (b) using a technology offered by CEA-LETI for which a demonstrator has been built. Large diameter TSVs provided access from a metal redistribution layer on the backside to the chip’s IO pads. Other subprojects focusing on similar technologies (large low aspect ratio vias at the periphery for backside connectivity) were quite successful as well: (a) using the FEI3 chip with a Fraunhofer IZM technology and (g) with T-Micro. In summary, the TSV technology is available and can be applied as “via-last technology” to almost any ASIC. Interconnection technology is less of a challenge as standard bump bonding will suffice.
On the other hand, projects which aimed for high density interconnections with high aspect ratio, narrow vias were less successful. For the interconnection standard bump bonding had to be replaced by more advanced technologies. The SLID technology was tried in three projects with mixed results. A successful SLID interconnection could be demonstrated by subproject (e) using a process by Fraunhofer EMFT. However the yield was low and results could not (yet) be reproduced by (g) using the same process by EMFT. A third project (c) which used a SLID technology by Fraunhofer IMS has not been evaluated yet. Equally narrow TSVs were used with mixed results also. While Fraunhofer EMFT did not succeed with the Tungsten filling of narrow vias in project (e) the identical technology worked for (g). This indicates that the process is not yet fully stabilized and large fluctuation of quality and yield occur.
The most advanced 3D processes use “via-first technologies”. In this case one is bound to a specific ASIC technology and a vendor supporting this process. Such a possibility was offered by Tezzaron, as a Multi Project Wafer (MPW) at the time the project started. Since this was the most advanced technology accessible it was mandatory within this framework to try and assess this technology. A ‘proof of principle’ of the process could be achieved, nevertheless it became obvious that it is technically still very difficult and at the end it took more than four years to produce chips with very low yield. Some subprojects suffered from the non-availability of the Tezzaron 3D integration process. While the project (f) essentially stopped after completion of the design, the project (c) redirected its efforts towards evaluating a new interconnection technology based on SLID offered by Fraunhofer IMS.
Shareable IP blocs
Two sets of IP blocks (65 nm CMOS and 180 nm SOI CMOS) were defined, designed and tested serving as basis for a shared library of future designs of readout chips for pixel detectors.
The goal was to promote the creation of a network of designers developing a shareable library of circuit blocks that can be used by the community in various detector readout chips. The evolution of microelectronics towards miniaturization (also called “CMOS scaling”) brings along an increased complexity of the technology itself and of the design tools, as well as much larger costs. As compared to consumer electronics, the HEP community is a low-volume customer that has to approach advanced CMOS processes in a collaborative way in order to be successful. Two different technologies were chosen in order to address the requirements of different detector applications. The 65 nm CMOS node was chosen for the first set of IP blocks in view of the development of new readout chips with high functional density, high data rate capability and high radiation hardness, complying with the requirements of the next generation of pixel detectors at HL-LHC (High Luminosity LHC) in the next decade and at CLIC. Among the various available technology options, the Low Power (LP) flavor of the 65 nm process was selected because it was considered to be the most interesting option in view of the design of mixed-signal (analog and digital) chips. CERN negotiated and signed a contract with TSMC (the CMOS foundry) and IMEC (the CMOS broker), and a multi-part nondisclosure agreement (NDA) was distributed to the WP3 institutions. This NDA administrative phase took much more time than anticipated (2 years), thus delaying the work. As soon the NDA was signed a full 65 nm CMOS design kit (prepared by CERN) was distributed to AIDA beneficiaries. In parallel, micro-electronic design groups had nevertheless an individual access to the 65 nm TSMC process through the standard Europractice service. These made it possible to design and submit IP blocks in this technology. Several blocks were designed and fabricated, including bandgap voltage references, general purpose ADC, I/O pads, LVDS transmitters and receivers, and temperature sensors. Soft IPs (SRAM compiler, FIFO pixel cell readout unit) were also designed. Designs and test results for these blocks were discussed and shared among the community. The full experimental validation of the blocks is still a work in progress that is expected to continue among the partners in the course of the design of the new readout chips for HEP detector applications.
A second set of blocks was designed in a 180 nm SOI CMOS process and was more focused on readout integrated circuits for calorimeters or time proportional chambers. These detectors set demanding requirements in terms of analogue performance parameters such as large dynamic range, high speed, low noise and low offset, high voltage capability and need of precise capacitors and resistors. The 180 nm node was chosen to fulfil these requirements.
The XT018 process is a X-FAB 180 nm modular trench isolated, high voltage SOI CMOS technology. It is based on SOI wafers and the industrial standard single poly with up to six metal layers 0.18µm drawn gate length process, integrated with high voltage and Non-Volatile-Memory modules. This platform is specifically designed for a new generation of cost-effective "Super Smart Power" technology. This technology fulfils the requirements of new readout chips that will be designed to equip the next generation of calorimeters and detectors at HL-LHC, at CLIC and at ILC. The high voltage capability also offers solutions for pixel sensor design. The 6 metal layers are quite interesting to design chips with analogue and digital parts. The access of the HEP community to this technology has been coordinated and, all the designs gathered together before submitting them to X-FAB foundry. These blocks have been submitted in July 2014. A lot of 10 dies was received at the end of December 2014. Evaluation has started and will continue over the next months, with successful preliminary results already available.
3.1.3 Relations with industry (WP4)\
Seven Academia-Industry matching events (AIME) with more than 100 participating companies were organized by WP4 and helped fostering new collaborations with industry, enlarging their manufacturing capabilities to meet the needs of detector technologies. An interactive tool, called Collaboration Spotting, to analyse different technologies using publications and patents was developed by WP4. The tool is a valuable asset for both academia and industry and is also used by communities beyond HEP.
AIDA focused on developing and applying a platform of exchange (matching events) between academic and industrial players with a view of matching the technology needs of future detectors with the capability of industry to meet these needs. Early industry-academia collaborations are expected to contribute to the improvement of the quality and pricing of industrial offerings, to give industry the possibility of testing new techniques and pushing their technical capability further, and possibly in a later stage deploy the newly developed technologies in other research disciplines and/or industrial applications. The Academia-industry matching concept consists in putting together academic and industry experts to discuss trends, needs and capabilities in relation with narrow technical topics of interest to detectors and requiring an important R&D activity in collaboration with industry.
In total, since the AIDA kick-off meeting in February 2011, seven Academia Industry Matching topical Events (3 by AIDA and 4 in collaboration with HEPTech) and four national events with a wider focus in relation with detector technologies were organized covering most of the technology fields of importance for detectors at accelerators.
These events and their preparations have been conducted through an analysis based on the technology under focus at the event, its readiness level and its possible use in other research disciplines than particle physics or in industry. A total of 611 people attended these events with an average of 87 participants per event. The attendance was linked to the size of the academic community of interest and to the number of companies having manufacturing and/or integrating capability. A total of 101 companies attended the seven events for an average of 14 companies per event. For technology topics where Europe could meet the needs of academia, the percentage of EU industry at the event was about 90% or above. This percentage went down to 70% when the leading industry for a technology topic is in the US and/or Asia. This was clearly the case for 3D interconnections where key industry players are outside Europe.
The analysis concluded that interactions between academia and industry strongly depend on the type and readiness level of the technology under focus and its use in detectors. For each academia-industry matching event, a deep understanding of academic expectations and a good knowledge of the possible industrial applications are required to increase the chances of early R&D collaborations with industry. For instance, when the main challenge lies in motivating industrial partners to invest in sophisticated production lines for building detectors, Academia must convince industry that such detectors have a real market potential beyond particle physics and to this end physicists must often devote some of their resources to building proof-of-concept devices and even pre-industrial prototypes. This is typically the case for gaseous detectors that have to demonstrate cost-effective use in applications such as ore mining or muon tomography scanners.
Attracting students in undertaking scientific studies and contributing to the training of future physicists and engineers is an integral part of the physics community’s responsibility. To this end, the Weizmann Institute has developed ten TGC-based detector demonstrators for high school students to view cosmic rays and understand how gaseous detectors operate. Other institutions in AIDA have developed demonstrators for high schools and universities using other technologies. Industry is needed to take over academia to address the growing demand of educational detector toolkits for high-school physics students. This can also constitute an attractive aspect for motivating industry in partnering with academia to acquire the technology.
Most of the detector projects related to AIDA are entering the pre-construction phase, therefore future matching events will have to account for the detector dimension in addition to the work already undertaken at the technology level. This is of particular importance for projects where specific technology combinations or scale of usage may unveil new problems calling for additional R&D to complement the selected solutions. For instance providing detector alignment and cooling, or supplying power to various components without compromising the detector efficiency while minimizing consumptions are issues that will need to be addressed in future matching events together with the technologies of concern.
Within this work package, CERN developed a graph-based interactive tool called Collaboration Spotting that processes all the publications and patents related to a particular technology topic and displays various graphs to assist organizers in identifying key players, monitoring and assessing the impact of a workshop, and understanding better how technologies develop and mature.
As an example, the graphs show the main industry (red) and academic (blue) organisations for Through Silicon Vias (TSV), one of the technologies addressed at the AIME on 3D interconnections with the help of Collaboration Spotting.
From these graphs, one can clearly identify key industrial players and how they collaborate with one another and with academia. Looking into their respective publications and patents will provide a good insight on their contributions to TSV and on the maturity of the technology.
The technologies addressed in the matching events have been processed and are regrouped in a graph called technology landscape along with other technologies from particle and nuclear physics. In this graph, individual vertices correspond to technologies, and edges between two vertices to papers and/or patents related to the technologies of the corresponding vertices. From each technology vertex, the organisation, subject category and author keyword landscapes are fully accessible. Navigating across these graphs can either be achieved via a technology vertex or using vertices of one landscape to access other landscapes related to a specific technology. In any graphs, histograms showing the distribution of publications and patents across the years are available.
3.2 AIDA TRANSNATIONAL ACCESS
Two kinds of facilities were offered under AIDA Transnational Access:
• test beam with electrons, positrons, muons and pions at DESY and CERN;
• irradiation facilities at the TRIGA-Mark-II reactor at JSI in Slovenia for neutrons irradiation, at the Neutron Irradiation Facility, Light Ion Irradiation Facility and Gamma Irradiation Facility at UCL in Belgium, the Compact Cyclotron for proton irradiations at KIT in Germany and the proton and mixed field irradiation facilities at CERN.
The beam units offered by CERN and DESY are free of charge and the EC funding was mostly dedicated to the support of users. For most of the irradiation campaigns on the other hand, the users did not come on site and the irradiation operation was done by facility manpower: the EC funding was therefore mostly used for the beam units and to ship back the irradiated components to the users.
Test beam facilities
354 users benefitted from transnational access to the test beam facilities at DESY and CERN. The two facilities exceeded the access units committed by about a factor of 2 and 3 respectively.
Europe has two world class facilities to test particle detectors with beams, which are highly demanded in the HEP community:
• CERN is unique with its PS and SPS beam lines offering a wide variety of particles (electron, muon, pion and proton) from GeV up to more than 250 GeV. The facility has provided 1,768 beams units (8h shifts) to 160 users (contractual commitment: 600 units);
• DESY provides high energetic particles in the multi-GeV range. Due to its easy handling, the DESY test beam is an excellent facility for early prototype testing where many accesses to the beam area might be required. The facility has provided 71.2 beams units (beam weeks) to 194 users (contractual commitment: 40 units).
Both sites benefited also of the EUDET/AIDA telescope. DESY was also offering a dedicated infrastructure for the test of gaseous detectors and their electronics upgraded under AIDA.
Over the AIDA timespan, due to the long accelerator LHC shutdown, the CERN test-beam has been available only in 2011-2012, well complemented by DESY test beam available over the remaining periods. The large fraction of trackers tests, mostly from the LHC community, reflected clearly that the most challenging detectors to be upgraded are foreseen to be those of the HL-LHC. The new ATLAS inner B layer (IBL) installed recently in the experiment benefitted a lot also from the TA for the qualification of production modules and validation of performance. All these tests were using pixel telescopes supported by AIDA. The CALICE collaboration underwent a few test-beam at CERN with the AIDA Tungsten infrastructure which revealed to be quite useful to validate the hadronic showers models. The test of the SiW calorimeter validated mostly the technical aspects as electronics or DAQ. The DESY TPC has been intensively used for test of GEM and micromegas detectors with novel amplifications structure or new electronics readout.
Irradiation Facilities Transnational access
337 users benefitted from transnational access to the irradiation facilities at CERN IRRAD East Hall, JSI, UCL and KIT, either by being present on site to conduct their experiments or by sending samples to the facilities to be irradiated. All the access units committed by the four irradiation facilities were delivered and three of them exceeded the contractual commitments.
The AIDA irradiation facilities were selecting and providing support according to the community needs and their complementarity:
The TRIGA-Mark-II reactor at JSI in Slovenia delivered fast neutron fluences up to 1016 cm-2 within one hour. The unit of access is a reactor hour, including sample preparation, cool off and handling neutron irradiations, as no users came on site but preferred to ship their components. Over the project, 630 units (beam hour) were provided under the TA with a high demand (540 committed). The JSI TA facility was mainly used to irradiate sensors, electronics and module prototypes to the extremely high doses expected at HL-LHC (>80%). Sensors included planar Silicon, 3-D Silicon, HV-CMOS and diamond. A limited proportion of projects dealt with irradiation of devices for the B-factories and the linear collider. One of the highlights resulting from AIDA TA to JSI reactor was the choice and verification of sensor technology for the module prototypes of ATLAS IBL, the pixel layer closest to the beam instated into the existing pixel detector. The required benchmark fluence is 6x1015neq/cm2. Several of the prototype sensors and modules were irradiated. The results of module tests were published in 2012 and served as the basis for validation of the module technology.
The KIT compact cyclotron in Germany runs at 25 MeV and 1-2 A and provided fluences up 5x1015neq/cm², which can be reached easily with an accessible area of 40x15 cm2. Over the project, 160 units (beam hour) were provided (160 committed), and similarly to JSI no user came on site. The TA was exclusively used to irradiate trackers components (sensors, readout chips) for LHC experiments again with the ATLAS IBL sensors, a R&D project of CMS to validate radiation hardness of thin Silicon sensor materials (CMS HPK campaign), the validation of radiation hardness of the new digital CMS Pixel Readout Chip and non-uniform irradiations of ATLAS AFP and LHCb VELO. For instance the CMS R&D project campaign resulted in 9 publications and 3 PhD theses and provided the basic knowledge on which the CMS Collaboration bases its decision on the sensor material for the production of a new Tracker in 2018.
The CRC Facility at UCL in Belgium has various irradiation facilities (fast neutrons, protons and heavy ions) providing moderate fluences (~1014 1-MeV neq/cm2 in ~24h) but allowing readout and control of DUT during irradiations. Also, and complementary to the two other facilities, larger detector area can be covered. Over the project, 275 units (beam hour) were provided (250 committed), as well as user support on site. About half of the users had projects related to the LHC, while the other half were linked to NA62 experiment or material tests. Complex objects as readout chips were irradiated, focusing not only on the fluence but also on the behaviour of the samples. With online monitoring of the component response along the radiation dose Single Event Effects could be studied. An interesting result has also been obtained with the irradiation of optical fibre developed by LHCb for which a fast transparency recovery has been observed.
The CERN irradiation facilities in the PS East Hall (proton and mixed field) were made available to 23 users from 5 projects. A total of 264 units (8h shifts) were provided (200 committed). In preparation for the luminosity upgrade of the LHC (HL-LHC), the CMS Tracker Collaboration evaluated the best sensor material for a new tracker to be optimized for higher peak and integrated luminosity with respect to the present tracker. Experiments around the development of a new kind of radiation monitoring device for CERN IRRAD East Hall were also carried out.
3.3 AIDA JOINT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
The two JRA activities were WP8 (Improvement and equipment of irradiation and test beam lines) and WP9 (Advanced infrastructure for detector R&D).
3.3.1 Improvement and equipment of irradiation and test beam lines (WP8)
Detector design, construction and operation closely link with test beam availability, to validate prototypes under realistic conditions or calibrate production modules. Similarly, irradiation facilities are essential to select materials and components for the radiation environment of future experiments. This work package aimed at adapting test beams and irradiation facilities to the requirements of these experiments, testing materials and components for their performance in a radiation field and coordinating beam tests of the Linear Collider community and providing a common DAQ for these tests.
Test beam infrastructure at CERN and Frascati
The possible implementation of a new beam line in the H8 beam of CERN North Area, able to provide 1-9 GeV/c electrons, pions and muons was studied. The Frascati beam line has been upgraded and commissioned with new beam characterisation equipment now available for facility users.
At CERN a design study was conducted for low-energy 1 to 9 GeV/c electron, pion and muon beams needed by neutrino detector community. The specification of the beam line has been documented by the neutrino community. Two beam layout adapted to the available space in the H8 beam line of the CERN SPS North Area, have been proposed.
The design challenges and optimization steps in the production of low-energy particles has been investigated and the optimization studies, mainly the choice of geometrical parameters and material of the secondary target from where the low-energy particles emerge, has been performed using Monte Carlo simulation codes.
The optimized beam layout and optics for the tertiary branch aimed to momentum select the low-energy particles and maximize the beam transmission allowing in a single configuration to switch between different particle types and momenta. Possible implementation of the new beam line in the H8 beam of CERN North Area was studied and documented.
At FRASCATI the test beam infrastructure has been successfully completed. Moreover, the BTF (Beam Test Facility) user access in Frascati during the 4 years has been of an average of about 220 days/year, 8 days/group, 20 groups/year. In summary, over the project duration, the following activities were achieved:
• Equipping the facility with a remote controlled table: The table was designed, tested and is operational since spring 2011. The characteristics of this equipment are described in a note .
• Equipping the facility of beam tracing system with a resolution lower than 100 μm: A 3D track system has been developed at the Frascati Laboratory. It consists of a compact TPC with 4 cm drift, and a triple GEM structure as readout system. Since 2012, the tracker system has been tested at BTF in various conditions of particle multiplicity. A resolution of 80 μm for a single particle has been measured when correlating data with a MEDIPIX telescope.
• Qualifying the BTF beam energy spread: A LYSO calorimeter prepared originally as a SuperB prototype has been commissioned as a monitor for the beam energy at the BTF Facility and its energy resolution has been studied. A correction factor has been applied, evaluated by Monte Carlo simulation, to subtract the contribution of the leakage contribution. A good energy resolution is obtained also in this configuration, with a constant term of about 3%.
• DAQ and beam diagnostics integration. The BTF multipurpose DAQ system has been continuously updated and developed during the four years in order to host new devices (remote controlled table, MEDIPIX, neutrons monitors, environmental station, etc) and develop a Graphical Users Interface for users.
Moreover, the user experience feedback at the BTF over these four years has been very positive and benefitted from the continuous integration of new diagnostics, and DAQ upgrade.
CERN PS proton & mixed-field irradiation facilities
A new proton irradiation facility (IRRAD) has been designed and constructed in the CERN PS East Area, going well-beyond the design study that was originally foreseen in AIDA.
Based on previous studies performed at CERN, the need and requirements for irradiation facilities at CERN based on slow extracted proton beams were re-evaluated, confirmed and consolidated within this work package. The CERN East Area was found to be an appropriate location to place a facility that combines a proton and a mixed-field irradiation facility in one single beam line. In collaboration with several CERN departments the layout of the facility was conceived and optimized. Dedicated FLUKA simulation studies on the facility configuration and shielding were performed in the framework of AIDA and used to converge towards an optimized facility layout in compliance with all relevant safety regulations. The construction of the facility was approved in 2012 by the CERN management and started in the end of 2013 with the dismantling of the existing infrastructure in the relevant beam lines of the East Area. The overall new infrastructure contains a proton and a mixed irradiation field facility. The proton facility is based on a design study and implementation plan performed in the framework of the AIDA project.
The new proton irradiation facility (named IRRAD) has been constructed upstream of the new mixed-field facility (named CHARM). The proton facility (IRRAD) bunker is subdivided in three zones according to the nature of the samples to be irradiated. The first zone is dedicated to the irradiation of “light” materials such as small Silicon detectors, the second zone to the irradiation of intermediate materials such as electronic cards and components, while the third zone is optimized to perform irradiation experiments on “high-Z” materials such as samples of calorimeter crystals. In this last zone, it is also possible to perform irradiations in cryogenic conditions using a dedicated setup operating with liquid Helium. Moreover, a fourth zone, in a partially shielded area, is equipped for the installation of readout electronics and/or DAQ systems that need to be close to the Devices Under Test (DUT) during irradiation. The commissioning started in October 2014 and in November/December 2014 a first irradiation campaign for facility users was performed. At the proton facility a total of 177 objects for users from various Experiments (CMS, RADMON, ATLAS, RD18, LHCb) and the accelerator sector (CERN-BE) have been exposed to the 24 GeV/c proton beam.
Part of the proton facility (IRRAD) equipment was also produced in the framework of this task and commissioned in the period of October to December 2014. Remote controlled tables have been designed, constructed, tested at CERN and finally installed in the irradiation facility for the first irradiation experiments in November 2014. A shuttle system that is carrying devices under test from the counting room directly into the beam area has been designed and constructed by the CERN team and installed in the irradiation facility as well. Part of the irradiation experiments have to be performed in cold boxes with typical temperatures around -20°C in order to provide realistic operational conditions for the components under test during the irradiation experiment. Cold boxes have been designed and produced, tested in-situ at the Birmingham irradiation facility and finally delivered to CERN at the end of 2014 and will be commissioned with beam at CERN in the first irradiation campaign in 2015.
Finally, a fluence monitoring system VUTEG-5-AIDA based on the direct relation between carrier recombination lifetime in Silicon (Si) and density of radiation induced extended defects has been built. In this apparatus, the measurements are performed in a contactless manner on pure Si wafer fragments using a microwave absorption technique. The sample chamber is temperature controlled and provides a 1D scanning possibility to measure beam profiles. This apparatus will remain operational at CERN up to 2016 included.
Qualification of components and common database
An online database called IMHOTEP on the properties of irradiated materials and components was developed and populated with data. More than 270 records with historical and new data were added to the database.
This task aimed for testing and documenting data on radiation damage to materials and components. It started with a review on existing data and experience from LHC irradiation and a definition of an irradiation test program and then continued with the testing of materials and components. Finally, an online database on material and component radiation testing was developed and implemented.
The performed irradiation tests focussed on a series of electronic devices, pixel sensors, inorganic scintillators and composite materials, epoxy raisins and other components relevant for HEP applications. The results can be accessed through the online database IMHOTEP. This database has been produced to provide a common point of reference for detectors, electronic components and materials used in detector construction at CERN and elsewhere for HEP detectors and accelerators.
Currently the database holds over 270 records while historical and new data is being added. The database relates closely to the LHC detector and machine upgrade efforts in that it is the easiest way to locate relevant test data on radiation damage tolerance tests. Potentially, the database is relevant to most HEP projects worldwide such as the future lepton colliders (ILC, CLIC) or hadrons colliders (FCC). It is planned to support and promote the development of the database at STFC-RAL on a “best efforts” basis to ensure its long term operation and benefit to the community.
Commissioning of a beam tracking telescope
The task provided technical support for the use of the beam telescope at DESY and CERN. The AIDA beam tracking telescope was commissioned and is now also available to users.
A pixel beam telescope (constructed during the FP6-EUDET project) based on six CMOS sensors (Mimosa26) with its Trigger Logic Unit (TLU), the EUDAQ framework, the offline reconstruction software based library and the EUTelescope library, have been in much demand throughout all the AIDA project years. Within the AIDA project, the development of the EUDET telescope was further extended and thus it was renamed as the AIDA telescope. This was developed in WP9 and it became a system capable of integrating devices of different readout type with high efficiency. It has been demonstrated that monolithic sensors and hybrid type detectors can be efficiently used as constructing blocks for a test-beam telescope. Using different detector technologies in one setup can be eventually very beneficial for detector R&D programs. The final AIDA telescope configuration brings together the high spatial resolution of Mimosa26 sensors and the self-triggering and time resolution features of FEI4 based detectors. The test-beam telescope was also extended in terms of cooling and powering infrastructure. A new central dead-time-free trigger logic unit (miniTLU) and data acquisition framework (EUDAQ2.0) have been developed to provide LHC-speed response with one-trigger-per-particle operating mode and a synchronous clock for all connected devices. The offline software framework includes the test-beam telescope data reconstruction and analysis package EUTelescope v1.0 based and a rich system of offline software development tools with user and developer forum. The AIDA test-beam telescope has been commissioned with the FEI4 based detector as triggering and time-stamping plane and Detector Control System for regular temperature and humidity control of the DUT. The complete Large Area Telescope was tested in November 2014 completing the commissioning of the telescope in the AIDA framework.
TASD and MIND: Prototype detectors for neutrino physics
TASD was commissioned at the MICE beam line in the UK and is performing beyond expectations. The MIND detector has been redesigned, and its components selected, procured and tested for a future construction.
The task included the study of prototypes of future neutrino detectors and the design and implementation of two prototype detectors: a Totally Active Scintillator Detector (TASD), mainly for electron charge identification, and a Magnetized Iron Neutrino Detector (MIND) mainly for muon charge identification.
The TASD was designed, constructed and commissioned in laboratory during summer 2013, before being installed for tests at the end of the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) beam line in September 2013 as no CERN beams were available. The data analysis performed during last year showed an effective rejection of the 11.7% electron contamination in the beam and a muon sample purity of 99.85%, performing well above the requirement of 99% purity. No dead channels were observed, and only 2 out of 5,664 channels were mismatched mechanically, an achievement when taking into consideration the complexity of the fiber bundles and testament to the dedication of the technical teams that were relatively inexperienced in the handling of optical fibers at the beginning of the project.
With the announcement of the Daya Bay results of March 2012 indicating a shift in prospects for neutrino facilities worldwide, the initial plans to build a standard MIND prototype were reformulated within the AIDA consortium to design a MIND in line with requirements for future experiments and useful for the European HEP community. The result was a redesign of the magnetization of the iron plates enabling better muon charge identification efficiencies at lower momenta, down to 1 GeV/c. Moreover, an extensive testing of the electronics with prototype evaluation boards, the 8400 plastic scintillator bars, and several types of Silicon photomultipliers fully validated the design.
The MIND prototype has been integrated in the CERN Neutrino Platform approved in 2014, which foresees some space and resources allocated to neutrino detector prototypes in a dedicated zone in the North Area building EHN1.
GIF++: A new gamma irradiation facility
The GIF++ facility was constructed in the CERN North Area. It includes a beam tracker, cosmic tracker, radiation dosimeters, gas and environmental sensors, DCS and DAQ systems to best meet user needs.
In 2014 the new gamma irradiation facility GIF++ was constructed at CERN. The facility will be a fundamental tool for the preparation of detectors to be installed at the HL-LHC. The facility makes use of a 14 TBq 137Cs source (Eγ=662 keV) and a 100 GeV/c muon beam. When no beam will be available, cosmic rays can be used for testing purposes. To best profit of the facility capabilities several user infrastructure items have been realized and delivered in the framework of AIDA: beam-tracker, cosmic tracker, radiation dosimeters, gas/environmental sensors, DCS and DAQ systems. Particular care has been devoted to the flexibility of the infrastructure in order to avoid, whenever possible, duplication of the work load on the users.
The Beam Tracker consists of two doublets of TGC chambers that have been installed in front and in the back of the GIF++ facility containing a pad readout in each plane (to provide the trigger), a high precision readout in each plane (to provide a precise vertical coordinate) and a second coordinate in each plane to provide, using a group of wires, the horizontal coordinate. The doublets were tested with the quasi-final electronics, which was also used for the installation of the tracker. The tracking detectors for GIF++ have thus achieved their expected performance. However, they will still profit from an upgrade of the electronics planned for mid-2015, which will further improve the performance and the radiation tolerance of the overall tracking system.
The Cosmic Ray Telescope is based on RPCs and has been designed to combine different needs, from offering large area coverage to provide reliable comic tracks. It consists of two main sub-systems: a wide-angle tracker located below the ceiling and a large area confirmation plane installed below the floor. The top telescope consists of 5 detectors 50x100 cm2 suspended from the ceiling or sustained by a support at about 4.5 m from the floor. The gas gap and the front-end electronics have been conceived to withstand the high photon flux generated by the GIF++ irradiator. The time resolution on a single gas gap is 400ps and operation up to 20 kHz/cm2 without loss in performance has been demonstrated. The confirmation plane installed below the floor consists of two large area RPC doublets (280x120cm2 each). All in all, the telescope was equipped with about 500 channels and offers maximum possible solid angle coverage within the facility. The high time resolution of the RPCs allows providing a sufficiently clean prompt trigger to the DAQ while the offline tracking allows discarding the spurious triggers for the detectors being tested outside of the ground instrumented area.
The Radiation Monitoring System for control of the absorbed dose during the irradiation of sub-detectors at GIF++ has been designed, constructed and tested. The monitoring concept is based on the use of two types of RadFET detectors with different sensitivity reaching up to 10KGy. The system itself has been extensively tested and calibrated in the old GIF facility.
The Gas and Environmental Sensors consist of 10 measurement stations recording temperature, humidity and pressure. A basic Detector Control System setup has been realized and is ready to include hardware needed by the fixed detectors as well as by the detectors under test. Finally, the DAQ system has been successfully tested with the beam tracker TGC chambers and RPC chambers of the cosmic tracker. The system is ready.
Common test beam experiments and Common DAQ
The CERN and DESY EDMS systems are fully operational as data management platforms, containing about 150 documents each. The common DAQ is also operational and is used by the telescope community.
An important aspect of the AIDA infrastructure project was to provide a powerful and unified control and acquisition system and an engineering data management system framework serving as a central data management platform for large international HEP collaborations and more specific also for the AIDA infrastructure developments within WP9. Significant progress was made on the tools and framework needed for a unified DAQ system, which will become the foundation of the common DAQ system for the LC collider detectors tests. During AIDA, the concept of a common DAQ was developed and tested. Parts of the system were in intense use by the telescope community, the global system has undergone bench tests. A planned common system test at CERN could not take place since at the time of proposal the long shutdown of the CERN accelerator complex was not scheduled.
Data taking with limited combination of detectors took place, however, during 2014. The AIDA engineering data management system has been installed on servers at DESY, is fully operational and is already serving several detector projects as data management platform. At the time of writing this report, some 150 documents have been committed to the DESY instance of the system, for a range of projects. About the same number of documents is available on the CERN instance.
3.3.2 Advanced infrastructure for detector R&D (WP9)
The activity of the work package has been organized around the three main technologies used in particle physics: gaseous detectors (Time Projection Chamber, muons chambers), solid state detectors (Pixel and Silicon micro-strips) and the calorimeters. Designing and validating these detectors requires up to date infrastructures.
Gaseous detector facilities
The DESY gaseous tracking detectors have been upgraded proving to be a unique facility for the test of Micro Pattern Gas Detectors (MPGDs). The CERN MPGD workshop capability has been improved and large area detectors are now produced.
Micromegas and GEMs detectors are very promising for the next detector generation colliders assuming large area chambers can be produced. The CERN Micro Pattern Gas Detector workshop has therefore been equipped with new machines extending their capability to produced large area PCBs and commissioned with AIDA resources. This new large-area line has already produced structures for more than 10 projects. Large-scale production is envisaged, among others, for the upgrade of the ATLAS muon chambers (the new small muon wheel) or the CMS phase 2 upgrade.
The gaseous tracking facility at DESY includes a large-bore 1 Tesla solenoid PCMAG, with an endplate that can be instrumented for test with different TPC readout electronics. The solenoid magnet has been refurbished allowing now long operation period.
Several readout schemes for gaseous detectors have been developed under AIDA. One of the most recent additions is the pixelated readout that uses an evolution of the Front End chip of solid-state pixel detectors to read out the signal that is formed in the gas. The InGRID structure has a miniature gas amplification structure, with a granularity of several tens of microns interfaced to the 55 um readout granularity of the MediPix chips. Beam tests showed that a large area can be reliably instrumented. The spatial resolution is found to reach the limit due to diffusion of the charge carriers while drifting through the gas volume.
These new AIDA infrastructures play a key role in gaseous detector R&D, where the workshop provides novel amplification structures for detector prototypes and the large TPC test area at DESY is the unique test bed to evaluate their performance.
Pixel Beam Telescope
The AIDA beam telescope infrastructure, including new telescope planes and arm, FEI4 readout and a CO2 cooling plant was delivered.
The beam telescope developed under EUDET, and several additional copies made afterwards, are available to users under the AIDA TA scheme. AIDA furthermore provided a large-area telescope arm and fast arm and extended the ancillary infrastructure (DAQ, offline software, Detector Control System and CO2 cooling plant).
Large-area telescope arm
The large-area SALAT plane exploits the MIMOSA-28 CMOS pixel sensors, currently the largest of its kind dedicated to charged particle detection. To achieve the excellent spatial resolution of ~3.5 m required for a precise reconstruction of the particle trajectory the detector is segmented into square pixels with an area of 20.7 x 20.7 m2. Each sensor has a total of 960 x 928 columns and rows, for a sensitive area of 19.9 mm2 x 19.2 mm2 = 3.8 cm2. The large-area planes are assembled using four such sensors tiled onto a thin mylar foil. The material in the path of the particles is limited to 50 m of mylar (with a radiation length X0 = 28.7 cm) and 50 m of Silicon of the thinned MIMOSA sensors. This ensures that the trajectory can be extrapolated to the device under test with a precision of a few microns even in relatively low energy beams, such as the test beams at DESY.
The readout architecture is based on a column parallel readout with amplification and correlated double sampling within each pixel. Each column is terminated with a high precision, offset compensating, discriminator and is read out in a rolling shutter mode at a frequency of 5 MHz (200 ns/row). The MIMOSA-28 architecture is adapted for a hit rate in excess of 106 hits/cm2/s, while dissipating a power below 150 mW/cm2 operating at room temperature (30°C). The large-area telescope arm was delivered to AIDA in 2014 and commissioned in the CERN beam line.
Fast telescope arm
One of the aims of the beam telescope task of the AIDA project was to further broaden the user base of the EUDET telescope, and in particular to attract more users from the R&D community involved in the upgrades of the LHC experiments. Much work has gone on within the project to integrate LHC-style readout chips with the MIMOSA-based telescope. The choice of technology is a hybrid pixel sensor equipped with the FEI4 readout developed for the ATLAS pixel detector. The pixel matrix of the FE-I4 consists of rectangular pixels arranged in 80 columns with 250 µm pitch and 336 rows with 50 µm pitch, resulting in a total sensitive size of 18.6 × 20 mm2. The ASIC is built in CMOS technology with a feature size of 130 nm. A dedicated PCB that accommodates 4 FEI4 chips (QUAD PCB) has been designed and produced. The successful tests in the lab and beam with two FEI4 modules placed on the PCB, the other two being placed later, have demonstrated good performance of the quad-plane PCB.
The presence of one or several FEI4 layers in the telescope offers several additional functionalities:
The FEI4 plane can be used to define a Region-of-Interest of arbitrary shape in the trigger. The FE-I4 chip can amplify and discriminate the signal of the charge generated in the sensor. Each pixel has embedded the same analog circuitry, which outputs a rectangular pulse that is high as long as the signal is above an adjustable threshold. This pulse is further processed digitally by the standard readout but it can also act as an input to a wired OR - the HitOR feature of all pixels. The connection of each pixel to the HitOR is configurable through the Enable HitOR local pixel register. The OR of all pixel signals is fed into the trigger logic unit (TLU) to create a trigger signal and distribute it to all the attached planes. Thus, users can program the active area of the telescope trigger, a feature that is very helpful when very small devices are tested. This feature was tested and proven to work in a test beam that involved the MIMOSA telescope, the FEI4 RoI plane and a DEPFET device under test.
The FEI4 planes are also used to provide a time stamp that tags a particle as “in time” or “out of time” with respect to the fast clock of the LHC tracking and vertexing devices. In the synchronous trigger distribution mode the DAQ systems participating in the test beam are expected to accept and record a clock cycle number for every incoming trigger. In this operation mode some detector systems (like Mimosa26) can have up to a hundred particles in one readout packet, sharing one coarse granularity time-stamp, which have to be associated to a list of fine trigger timestamps from the TLU without space information of the particles. In order to solve the space-time matching problem a fast detector based on ATLAS FEI4 chip has been foreseen in the AIDA telescope. The FEI4 based module provides a flexible triggering capabilities and in case it is included in the readout data stream also the time-stamping for every particle triggered by the TLU. The intrinsic FEI4 resolution is limited to a single LHC machine bunch-crossing, which corresponds to 25 ns. The overall timing resolution below 1 ns can be obtained from the AIDA TLU and the space pointing resolution coming from the six Mimosa26 planes, to be kept at about 2 μm.
The Timepix chip family is considered as an alternative for the high rate test-beam telescope. The Timepix telescope, built by the Medipix and LHCb collaboration, was made available within the AIDA Transnational Access and offers similar performance in terms of the average resolution and time resolution at high beam energies. The Timepix modules integration in the EUDET telescope (TLU handshake, EUDAQ, and EUTelescope reconstruction package) has been performed by CLICpix collaboration. This has demonstrated the possibilities to use same user interface at beam tests for detectors with continuous readout (Mimosa26), trigger based readout (FEI4), and shutter based system (Timepix).
Further developments include all ancillary systems (Trigger Logic Unit, EuDAQ data acquisition system, EuTelescope offline analysis framework, detector control system and new CO2 cooling plant).
Among the many results obtained with the telescope infrastructure the beam tests of the ATLAS Inner B-layer prototypes are among the most important. This new layer for the ATLAS vertex detector was installed recently, and is currently operated successfully in the experiment. During the long R&D period that preceded its construction, numerous prototypes were submitted to beam tests to evaluate their response to high-energy charged particles. These included two sensor designs (both the classical planar pixels that are used in the central part of the detector and the novel 3D pixel detectors used in the most forward and backward sections). Prototypes were furthermore irradiated to the unprecedented fluence of non-ionizing radiation that the detector must survive during its lifetime in the LHC. The ATLAS IBL collaboration routinely used the telescope made available under the AIDA TA funding to measure the trajectory of particles in the CERN and DESY beam lines.
The telescope infrastructure attracts a large and growing community of users.
Calorimeter Infrastructure
The infrastructure to test novel, highly granular calorimeter concepts was developed, including a large Tungsten structure, front-end electronics and a micro-strip telescope. Data recorded with these prototypes enabled new more precise validation of the hadronic shower simulation models.
Ultra-granular calorimeters (or imaging calorimeters) constitutes the direction to follow to achieve the needed performance, especially jet resolution in the new collider experiments. Various absorber and sensitive media, and dedicated readout (ASICs) should be explored. Several stacks to study the response of novel, ultra-granular calorimeter concepts to electrons (for EM calorimetry) and pions (for hadronic calorimetry) have been built including their electronics readout. These include a Si-W EM prototype, an HCAL stack that can be equipped with digital or analog readout, a special Tungsten stack that studies the performance of this compact absorber material, and a Forward Calorimeter. In addition, a micro-strip detector setup that provides an entry point for particles entering the calorimeter has been built.
The building of ‘central’ highly granular electromagnetic calorimeter cumulates many technical challenges: the high density of channels (typically a 1,000-fold w.r.t. classic calorimetry) to be treated with integrated electronics, which has to be low-power and passively cooled, low noise and cross-talk, limited dead material and ‘invisible’ – yet rigid – mechanical structure. The forward calorimeters should handle much higher rates in confined and radiation-hard environment. Some dedicated developments required to build fore-coming realistic prototypes have been supported by AIDA and are described below.
Front-end electronics for central calorimeters
The 2nd generation of the ‘ROC ASICs’ fits the basic needs for the central highly granular calorimeters: signal pre-amplification and triggering, signal shaping and digitisation in one single unit handling 32 to 64 channels, with versions adapted to all the sensors: SKIROC2 [Si-W ECAL], SPIROC2 [AHCAL], HARDROC2 [GRPC–SDHCAL], MICROROC [Micromega–SDHCAL].
In the scope of AIDA, an improved design for 3rd generation of ROC chips was developed, where the channels are handled independently to perform on-chip zero suppression, and an I2C link with triple voting was integrated for the control of the ASIC, to allow handling larger number of chips in a single detector unit and radiation tolerance. HARDROC3 is the first of the 3rd generation ASIC. A first limited engineering run funded through AIDA allowed for the validation on electronics test benches and the correction of minor errors. A larger production has been launched in January 2015. It will allow for testing in real condition with the SDHCAL (below).
Silicon-Tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter – Si-W ECAL
The Si-W ECAL of CALICE is probably the central calorimeter where the instrumental and technological and industrialisation requirements are the most entangled. They mostly concentrate on the design of the modular ‘base unit’ of detectors (dubbed ASU), stitched together to form detection elements (dubbed SLABs). Each ASU is 18×18 cm² wide. It connects Silicon sensors to 16 SKIROC2 ASICs (for a total of 1,024 channels), and to its 2 neighbouring ASU’s. AIDA contributed to support the incremental designs and tests of the first complete ASU.
Beam tests with up to eight single-ASU SLAB’s with a detection area of 9×9 cm2 (a single wafer) were performed in 2012 and 2013. Signal to noise ratio not lower than 10:1 was achieved. With the conclusion of the beam tests in 2012 and 2013 small design defects were found and corrected, validating the concept and implementation of the ECAL layers. The first full ASU with 16 ASICs and 4 wafers is ongoing and four Si wafers have already been glued onto a PCB with success. A quality certified assembly chain has also been built and used for this complete test.
Analogue hadronic calorimeter – AHCAL
For the analogue HCAL, the challenge concerns the production of a large quantity of small scintillator tiles (typically 3×3 cm²) ensuring uniformity and their optical-mechanical mounting onto readout boards (dubbed HBU) while maintaining a calibrated response. New active modules were developed during the AIDA project. Their realisation is based on a network of groups working on the optimization of the design, which allowed e.g. for the first time to test fibre-less scintillating tiles while keeping a good uniformity of the response. Readout electronics, similar to that of the Silicon ECAL described before, was used.
The efforts culminated recently in a beam test with hadrons at the CERN PS in 2014 to assess the new design: altogether 8 small layers (featuring 1 HBU) and four big layers (4 HBUs) were tested in a steel structure with shape and size compatible with a large detector such as ILD. The channel wise power supply, developed within AIDA, will be also integrated soon into the setup.
This beam test has been conducted jointly with an electromagnetic calorimeter that is also based on the scintillation technique (built outside the scope of AIDA) as well as recently with one layer of the Si-W ECAL layers mentioned above. This was the first use of the infrastructure for combined calorimeter beam tests, including common DAQ SW.
Semi-digital GRPC hadronic calorimeter – GRPC-SDHCAL
The hadronic calorimetry for ILC using Glass Resistive Plate Chambers (GRPC), small cells (1×1 cm²) and a semi-digital readout faces two challenges: keeping gaseous sensors uniform and integrating their readout over large area (typically up to 3 m²) in a confined space. For LHC detectors the recovery time of classic RPC (~10 ms) is problematic. AIDA helped addressing these issues.
Large RPC detectors (2–3 m2), their readout electronics and self-supporting mechanical frame to host them have been designed. A novel gas distribution scheme inside the RPC detectors was conceived to insure uniform irrigation with reduced dead space and a single side service.
The new HARDROC3 ASIC improves the readout of RPC detectors with both the zero-suppression and I2C protocols. Electronics boards adapted to large detectors with reduced cost are being designed.
The work on the chambers as introduced above opened the possibility to work on chambers that can sustain high rates, i.e. bigger than 100 Hz/cm2. Beam tests with this kind of chambers were conducted in 2013 at the DESY beam test facility.
Forward calorimeters – FCAL
The forward calorimetry, ensuring in particular luminosity measurement and beam position feedback, has to cope with specific issues: high rates, high radiation and high mechanical precision. A multilayer Tungsten structure was built to serve the last two issues. It includes: a mechanical structure housing up to 30 sandwich type Si-W modules, ten precisely thinned (accuracy of ~50um) Tungsten absorber plates, and four prototype detector modules, each one containing a Si or GaAs pad sensor, a 32-channel readout board with dedicated front-end and ADC ASICs and a FPGA based back-end electronics. After commissioning the functionality of the multilayer calorimeter structure was demonstrated with beams of hadrons, muons and electrons. Further prototype structures of a laser alignment system based on a) semi-transparent Silicon sensors for relative measurements in transversal direction, and b) Frequency Scanning Interferometry (FSI) for absolute position measurement, were also built. Preliminary measurements demonstrated its feasibility for the final alignment system. The built infrastructure will be used in future test-beams of forward calorimeters, in particular for the BeamCal and LumiCal studies.
For future larger tests, multi-channel adapted readout electronics was missing: two 8-channel ASICs were designed and fabricated in deep sub-micron CMOS 130 nm technology, one handling the front-end and the second an ADC. Performances were found to be similar to the ones of the older CMOS 0.35um technology. However, the new ASICs fulfil all critical requirements of the final calorimeter, dissipating an order of magnitude less power, allowing power-pulsed operation, and being radiation-hard. These new ASICs will be the core of a next generation compact detector module.
Hadronic shower validation
An important step was the creation of a Tungsten calorimeter stack that allows to characterize for the first time the performance of this material for deep and compact calorimeters at high-energy colliders using different sensitive media (scintillating tiles, RPCs, etc.).
This infrastructure, together with the above prototypes has been used in many test beams especially with hadron particles at CERN. These ultra-granular calorimeter readout allows to characterize in detail the longitudinal and lateral profile of the hadronic shower that develops in the stacked layers of absorber and sensitive material. Further studies revealed the differences in time structure in Tungsten compared to more conventional steel structures . The observed lateral and longitudinal shower developments, as well as its time structure, were compared carefully with the predictions of several models. Remarkably good agreement was observed for the QGSP_BERT_HP physics list, which is used extensively in the LHC experiments.
A device to provide a precise reference position (“entry point”) for the granular calorimetry infrastructure was built. This mini-telescope is based on conventional micro-strip detector technology. The system furthermore includes a complete readout system and the required software. The device was tested in a beam of particles, satisfying all requirement. More advanced components were produced in the project and can be used in the future extension of this infrastructure.
The micro-strip telescope is currently available for use with the calorimeter infrastructure. Due to the LS1 shutdown of all CERN accelerators, no test of the deliverable with high-energy hadrons was possible so far. Operation of the mini-telescope together with the calorimeter moreover is expected to happen in 2015.
Potential Impact:
4. POTENTIAL IMPACT, DISSEMINATION, EXPLOITATION OF RESULTS
4.1 STRATEGIC IMPACT
4.1.1 Contribution to policy developments
The AIDA participants, representing the major European laboratories, research institutes and universities in the field of detector development at accelerators, have an impact at several levels, from scientific and technological implementations to policy developments. In particular, AIDA contributed to the update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics in 2013 demonstrating the need for coherent and coordinated detector R&D and advanced infrastructures in Europe such as irradiation and test-beam facilities. As the main detector R&D forum, catalysing future global projects (HL-LHC, ILC, CLIC, B factory, neutrinos long baseline etc.), AIDA organized a common feedback to the topic consultation for integrating research infrastructures in 2012, followed by a successful proposal (AIDA-2020) to the H2020 call in September 2014. After four years, the project has been recognized as the most appropriate framework to discuss detector infrastructure upgrades and implement common cross-project developments in Europe.
4.1.2 Well-coordinated research programmes and priorities
Detector development projects have always been quite diverse and focused on the needs of the individual experiment. The AIDA Integrated Activity took up the challenge to create a concerted detector R&D effort throughout Europe, to increase the efficiency and impact of the detector development cycle, and to maximise the synergy between different communities, including the LHC upgrade, Linear Colliders and Neutrino facilities. Strong collaborations have been established in most of the activities, especially in the software and micro-electronics networks. The simulation and reconstruction packages developed jointly by the LC and LHC groups are now used in a wider community, i.e. the FCC study and future neutrino experiments. Most of the 3D integration sub-projects brought together groups with interest in different future experiments (B factory, CLIC, ILC, all LHC experiments including ALICE). In a similar way, the new AIDA telescope emerged from the shared efforts of ILC, ATLAS and CMS groups. AIDA has also setup the foundation of new collaboration: ultra-granular calorimetry is now extended from the LC community to FCC and HL-LHC. The gaseous detector originally focused only on MGPD at LC are now used in HL-LHC (ATLAS muon inner wheel) and the RPC are now included. Finally the upgrade of the irradiation facility at CERN is going beyond the detector development itself, as also requested by the accelerator community (IRRAD).
The successful efforts of AIDA to bring together the diverse detector community has also been demonstrated in the planning and submission of the new AIDA-2020 project. During the proposal preparation phase several groups outside of AIDA expressed interest in participating in AIDA-2020, thus showing clear appreciation of the concerted efforts in this field.
4.1.3 Developments of world-class infrastructures (JRA)
The EC contribution in supporting the AIDA project catalysed a collaborative approach to advanced detector development throughout Europe and facilitated the implementation of world-class infrastructures that require joint research spanning many countries and European facilities. Developing these infrastructures allows Europe to retain its leading position in particle physics. The AIDA joint research activities have delivered key developments, concepts and designs for test beam and irradiation facilities and advanced detector infrastructures.
In the framework of AIDA, CERN, DESY and BTF Frascati have greatly boosted the R&D, testing and commissioning work of their detector infrastructures. The upgrade of the equipment of these facilities was required to provide instrumentation to evaluate accurately the performance of the tested prototypes. The BTF is now able to provide precise characteristics of its beam to the users. The DESY gaseous infrastructure, and its large aperture solenoid (PCMAG), is unique in Europe to characterize MGPDs and their readout electronics. The DESY and CERN beam lines are now equipped with excellent resolution beam telescopes; for instance large-area and fast telescope arms can now be used at CERN. Providing cutting-edge equipment and related data acquisition and software improves the efficiency of the beam-allocated time to users. It also provides an easier access to smaller size groups, not involved in large collaborations or coming from other scientific fields. Beam telescopes were used by more than 50 % of the users at CERN and DESY. One third of DESY users also benefitted from the PCMAG. The calorimeter Tungsten infrastructure at CERN was used by various groups of the CALICE project, including users from the US.
The impact will be even more visible in the future, as the AIDA test and irradiation facilities have been prepared in view of future challenges, namely the next generation of HEP colliders. In this context, it has to be mentioned that the infrastructures upgraded or developed through AIDA have unique testing capabilities, e.g. the test beam and irradiation facilities of CERN.
Another major impact delivered by the project is the new radiation facility in the CERN East Area, of which the construction and commissioning were not originally foreseen during the lifetime of AIDA. However, the AIDA community with the help of its Advisory Committee in collaboration with several CERN departments succeeded in convincing the CERN management to go beyond the design and perform the construction during the course of AIDA. The construction of the facility was approved in 2012 by the CERN management and started in the end of 2013 with the dismantling of the infrastructure of one closed experiment (DIRAC) in the relevant beam lines of the East Area. This facility will act as a crucial component for radiation testing for the community and its future collider projects (detector and accelerator). The radiation testing and the implementation of a public radiation damage on materials and components database has an even wider scope, reaching well beyond the HEP community. All technical applications operating in and suffering from intense radiation or radiation fields like e.g. space, nuclear or medical applications benefit from the collection and sharing of the data provided in the database. Furthermore, collaborations across different sectors in radiation damage R&D are fostered by making the accumulated data and the corresponding contact points of expertise easily available.
4.1.4 Knowledge sharing and excellent research institutions
The knowledge sharing aspect of AIDA’s impact was primarily achieved by the excellent networking (NA) and transnational access (TA) activities.
Opening six facilities across Europe to scientists far beyond the consortium members allowed 202 groups (projects) from 26 countries to bring their experiments to the world class TA infrastructures.
• The ATLAS collaboration recently build a new vertex layer at small radius (IBL) to improve its b quark identification capability. The two technologies used (planar pixel and 3D sensor) have been validated through radiation tests at KIT and JSI. The position resolution has been measured under various conditions on many modules before and after irradiation with the beam telescope both at DESY and CERN depending of their respective availability. The impact of AIDA is described in a number of ATLAS publications. The ATLAS IBL has been installed in 2014 and is operational for the LHC restart in 2015.
• The CALICE collaboration has been exploring the development of ultra-granular calorimeters both for electromagnetic and hadronic showers. The data recorded by the test-beams at CERN and DESY with their prototypes provided a set of new data, allowing the detailed study of the hadronic shower characteristics longitudinally and laterally and also their time structure. Such information is crucial for reliable detector simulations.
• Non-HEP or non-EU-home-based experiments also made an efficient use of AIDA TA: the nuclear physics CBM experiment at the future FAIR facility in Germany, the Belle II experiment at Japan and the SPS tracker from JLab (US) demonstrated the value of the unique detector facilities of AIDA.
The large LHC experiments consist of several tens of millions of lines of code developed by hundreds of scientists, and since parts of this code have been developed specifically for each experiment, it contains a significant amount of duplication. Under the software NA activity, AIDA has helped in developing the culture of generic software that can be re-used in many places for future projects, beyond the AIDA community. In this sense, the HEP community is getting organized around the idea of a HEP Software Foundation to encourage collaboration and software re-use. AIDA has provided a good example and is the proof that this approach is not only feasible, but also desirable. The project has demonstrated that generic software tools can be developed and can be used by several experiments at the same time. The packages and software toolkits developed in AIDA have been tested and evaluated in real use-cases for the experiments in the wide community, covering from the LHC, the Linear Collider and more recently the Future Circular Collider.
In the last 20 years, microelectronics has been the key element to use new technologies for the HEP detectors or improve their performance. However the complexity of the new readout and the quickly evolving technologies (not driven by HEP needs but more by the computing and telecommunication industries) make a networking approach unavoidable and necessitate sharing results and experience. The microelectronics NA of AIDA explored various novel technology options for the interconnection of detectors and readout chips, including the 3D integration techniques that appear to be a rather promising tool for the design of future pixel detectors. The novel technologies can be more or less aggressive and risky, depending on the density of interconnections and of vertical vias (Through Silicon Vias) across the Silicon substrates. “Via last processes” with large TSVs in the periphery are mature in a sense that only minor R&D is needed. They could be envisaged as baseline technology for new detectors in the next decade. For the more advanced technologies, further basic R&D has to be performed, especially in terms of reliability. The creation of circuit libraries in advanced microelectronic technologies (65 nm CMOS and 180 nm SOI CMOS) has a large impact in view of the design of detector readout chips for the next generation of HEP experiments. The network of microelectronic designers established by AIDA makes it possible to tackle the huge complexity of these technologies and to devise the development of large mixed-signal integrated circuits satisfying extremely demanding performance requirements in terms of radiation tolerance, functional density, and capability of handling huge data rates. Part of the IP blocks designed in 65 nm will be used by the RD53 collaboration at CERN.
The main benefit of AIDA is the enhanced expertise and knowledge that flows from carrying out the project, thereby fostering the excellence of the participating universities and research institutes.
4.1.5 Relations between academia and industry in Europe
AIDA has introduced the concept of Academia-Industry Matching Events focusing on specific technologies, which have proven to be very successful. They have also been adopted both by other communities in particle physics, such as the micro-pattern gaseous community (RD51) or accelerator communities (cryogenics, superconducting magnets, vacuum technologies and beam monitoring), and also by other communities outside particle physics. In particular the Extreme Light Infrastructures (ELI) and XFEL have organised two events using the same concept, focusing on laser technologies, and are planning more. In some cases, new partnership between academia and industry has been established, but in most of the events it especially helps to bridge the gap between academic institutes able to conduct innovative R&D and industry, which might need to industrialize the process of these detectors elements.
An interesting impact of the project on relations between academia and industry is generated from the graph-based interactive tool, ColSpotting , whose kick-off idea has been emerging from AIDA. It offers the possibility to widen the range of pertinent industrial players to more than those currently in the procurement database of Research Infrastructures. A systematic search of players for each key technology can provide a rich overview of the industrial landscape for a particular scientific domain and foster R&D collaboration between academia and industry. European companies having a leading role in the development of a particular technology can easily be identified and invited to attend matching events and therefore increase their chances to take part in challenging development activities that very often can be reused in various applications with societal impact.
4.1.6 Wider benefits to European science and society
The Networking and Joint Research Activities of AIDA have brought some fundamental advances that drive particle detector development: software design and simulation tools, novel micro-electronics and 3D interconnection techniques, and advanced gaseous, pixel and Silicon detector technologies.
These developments match the needs of the future generation of particle physics experiments but have also significant impact on other European or global research infrastructures using similar detector components and technologies, such as the ones used by the nuclear physics, astrophysics, space science, synchrotron and spallation source communities.
In addition to direct utilisation and further detector R&D in the scientific fields mentioned above, the detector technologies developed and advanced by AIDA are expected to lead to collaborations with industry concerning applications with wide societal impact, for example medical equipment, environmental and radiation monitoring systems, and novel inspection and safety devices.
78 PhD students have been involved in AIDA and benefited from the networking and collaborative opportunities offered within the project. These young researchers have acquired technical skills and valuable practical experience in a multi-disciplinary and international environment. Past experience of the particle physics community shows that about half of these PhD students would pursue careers ultimately outside the area of scientific research, and many of them would be recruited by industry.
The impact of AIDA on the society at large can therefore be seen in two main directions. First, direct impact of development and sharing of novel technologies for sensors, microelectronics and integrated systems. Then the indirect impact of technology transfer through industrial R&D projects and uptake of promising technologies in a wide range of applications, as well as training of the next generation of scientists and engineers.
AIDA has contributed significantly to providing excellent practical training to young researchers via the Student Tutorials organized during the Annual Events. In total, 74 students from and outside the AIDA consortium attended these events, 16 with financial support of AIDA. The topics covered by these tutorials were: Solid State Detectors, Gaseous Detectors in HEP, Trigger, DAQ and Control System.
Examples of successful knowledge transfer from particle physics to other areas include medical imaging. Some of the ASICs developed for HEP under AIDA are already successfully applied in e.g. medical imaging (PET), material characterisation, radiation monitoring and volcanology. The improvements in Geant4 may be used in enhanced simulations for medical and space applications. The CMOS sensors and MEDIPIX developed in AIDA can also be used for medical applications or in the ALICE experiment.
The Collaboration Spotting tool, developed under AIDA, provides very useful means of visualising patterns and particular data arrangements that helps understanding the technology landscape and unravelling innovation mechanisms beyond the physics community. A further analysis of the underlying concepts has confirmed that this graph-based interactive tool can potentially be used to visualise other data sources than publications and patents. Financial data, project and procurement data but also genomics are amongst the data sources under evaluation at the moment. Ultimately, the tool is expected to provide users means of building combinations of interactive graphs processed from any datasets in relation with Big Data, produced in various scientific disciplines.
4.2 DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION
The Communication and dissemination Task 1.2 ensured the flow of information within the AIDA community and targeted audiences such as the wider scientific community, industry, and the general public, by developing and implementing effective communication tools.
4.2.1 Dissemination tools and activities
Website
The AIDA website (http://cern.ch/aida) was the main communication tool for storage and dissemination of project results. It was created in January 2011, before the start of the project, and was maintained with Work Package highlights, news and event announcements and the project results collected under the Deliverables and Milestones sections. To reach the general public, an Education and Outreach section was developed in period 2 and features educational resources related to detectors in general and also information about schools for young researchers to participate in. The website was also one of the main sources of information for the scientific community interested to apply to AIDA Transnational Access. It is to be noted that the average number of visitors per month (565) exceeded the AIDA members by at least a factor of 2 and was even higher during AIDA-related events. The AIDA website visitors were searching for information about the project, opportunities for transnational access, as well as project-related events and results. The figure below, shows the top-visited website pages for the project duration, with noticeable peaks during the last year of the project and an increase in searches related to AIDA results.
Publications and reports
All the AIDA publications and reports are available in open access and can be browsed on the AIDA CDS collection by type, work package or keywords. As of 31st of March 2015, the total number of publications added to the AIDA CDS collection amounted to (excluding the deliverable and milestone reports):
Academic theses Status reports Misc. Journal publications Scientific/
Technical Notes Presentations Conference/
Workshop contributions Total
8 7 16 120 23 36 59 269
In addition, AIDA has produced 55 deliverable reports and 32 milestone reports.
Scientific and technical results were published in peer-reviewed publications such as:
• Journal of Instrumentation (JINST) – 46 publications
• Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A (NIM A) – 43 publications
In addition, 13 publications were submitted to the Instrumentation and Detector section of the Open Access arXiv.org database.
AIDA results were also presented by project members at major international conferences including:
• Workshop on Vertex Detectors (Vertex) – 10 presentations and/or proceedings
• IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC) – 9 presentations and/or proceedings
• Technology and Instrumentation in Particle Physics (TIPP) – 7 presentations and/or proceedings
• Calorimetry for High Energy Physics Frontier (CHEF) – 5 presentations and/or proceedings
• International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics (Calor) – 4 presentations and/or proceedings
• Topical Workshop on Electronics for Particle Physics (TWEPP) – 2 presentations and/or proceedings
• Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics (CHEP) – 2 presentations and/or proceedings
A number of AIDA feature-articles were published in the CERN Bulletin, CERN Courier, PH Newsletter or LC Newsline with topics ranging from the development of a versatile beam telescope, the commissioning of the AIDA telescope, the completion of the calorimeter test beam programme to opportunities for access to AIDA test beam and irradiation facilities and general information about the project.
The project was promoted with a factsheet for the European Commission, developed in period 1.
For the detailed list of peer-reviewed publications and dissemination activities, see Annex I.
AIDA Annual Meetings
The Annual Meetings gathered participants from about 80 institutes and laboratories from 23 countries and represented an opportunity for the AIDA community to discuss the project scientific and technical achievements. Posters for the Annual Meetings were designed and then distributed to AIDA participants so that the events could be suitably advertised.
To reach young researchers, half-day public tutorials were organized during the Annual Meetings. The aim of these tutorials was to feature topics interesting for students from within and outside the Consortium. In total, 3 Student Tutorials were organized:
1. Solid State Detectors – 30 participants
2. Gaseous Detectors in HEP – 30 participants
3. Trigger, DAQ and Control System – 14 participants
Outreach activities
Many of the AIDA outreach activities were targeted to students. The project provided financial support to students participating at the EIROforum School on Instrumentation 2013 and the 5th International School of Trigger and Data Acquisition 2014. At these events, there were invited talks given by AIDA members. Furthermore, students were asked to prepare and present a poster on their research activities. One of the test beams equipped under the framework of AIDA was made available for a team of school students to run an experiment in 2014. The same competition with the same beamline (that will be available under AIDA-2020) is currently ongoing .
List of Websites:
http://cern.ch/aida
Name of the scientific representative of the project's coordinator
Title and Organisation: Laurent Serin, Scientific Coordinator, CNRS
Tel: +33 1 64 46 8501
Email: Laurent.Serin@cern.ch
After four years of activity, AIDA has coordinated a joint European effort for detector R&D and significantly improved a number of key European research infrastructures enabling advanced detector development for the high energy physics community. The project has achieved the scientific objectives and technical goals defined in Annex I of the Grant Agreement. The activities completed in all work packages will have an impact on the development of detector technologies for future accelerators:
-Generic detector description software toolkits for data processing applications in HEP experiments were developed and are being used by the ILD, CLICdp and the three FCC detectors.
-Various technologies to meet the requirements of future pixel detectors, such as integration of pixel sensors with CMOS read-out circuits and the fabrication of TSVs for interconnection, were investigated. The large aspect ratio TSV technology proved successful and it can now be applied to almost any ASIC. Furthermore, two sets of IP blocks (65 nm CMOS and 180 nm SOI CMOS) were defined, designed and tested and serve as basis for a shared library of designs of readout chips for future detectors.
-Strong links with the European detector industry were established by AIDA through the organization of a series of events with key experts from industry and academia. In total, 7 Academia-meets-Industry events with more than 100 participating companies were organized. An interactive tool, called Collaboration Spotting to analyse different technologies using publications and patents was developed and is also being used by communities other than HEP.
-A total of 691 researchers carried out 202 projects at European test beam and irradiation facilities (CERN, DESY, JSI, UCL, KIT) in the framework of the AIDA Transnational Access activities where the contractual commitments in terms of access units were largely exceeded. The impact on detector R&D can be assessed by the significant number of publications resulting from Transnational Access activities: 121 for the full project duration.
-AIDA contributed to the improvement and equipment of irradiation and test beam lines: new beam line characterisation infrastructure was installed, commissioned at Frascati and is now available to facility users, a new proton irradiation facility, IRRAD, was designed and constructed in the CERN PS East Area, a new gamma irradiation facility, GIF++, recently constructed in the CERN North Area was equipped to welcome users. An online database, called IMHOTEP, on the properties of irradiated material and components was developed and populated with data. A new beam tracking telescope was commissioned and is now available to users. The TASD detector was commissioned and is operational and the MIND detector has been redesigned for the benefit of the neutrino community. In the framework of AIDA, the CERN and DESY EDMS systems became operational as data management platforms for common test beam experiments and contain about 150 documents each. The common DAQ is also operational and is used by the telescope community.
-New detector prototypes (precision pixel detectors, gaseous and silicon tracking devices, highly granular calorimeters) were evaluated and characterized under AIDA, for the benefit of the European detector R&D community. The gaseous tracking detector was upgraded at DESY with a superconducting magnet and is being used by many groups. The CERN MPGD workshop is producing large area detectors. The infrastructures to test novel, highly granular calorimeter concepts, including electronics were also developed. In addition, a dedicated Silicon micro-strips telescope was developed so that a large-scale common test beam can now be scheduled at CERN facilities.
The R&D performed within AIDA will strengthen the excellence of the European detector community and its leading role in the major HEP experiments. Besides the direct impact on European detector research and industry, AIDA has indirect impact on the society at large. This is showcased by the organization of student tutorials and in particular by the number of PhD students (78) that have contributed to AIDA activities. Furthermore, some of the technologies and software developed within AIDA (ASICs, CMOS sensors, Geant4) can be used in applications outside of particle physics such as medical instrumentation, environmental monitoring and space science.
Project Context and Objectives:
2. PROJECT CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES
2.1 CONTEXT
The success of experimental particle physics, such as the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN relies on cutting-edge technologies in the field of both accelerators and detectors. The LHC experiments like ATLAS and CMS are an impressive result of a 10-year detector R&D phase with many tests (particle beam and irradiation), followed by almost another decade of construction to be operational for the LHC start-up in 2010. New challenges are now opening up by the upgrade of the detectors for the High Luminosity LHC, the leptons colliders (B factory, ILC, CLIC, etc.), the Future Circular Collider (FCC) programme at CERN and the new neutrinos detectors for long baseline projects.
In line with the European Strategy for Particle Physics , AIDA (http://cern.ch/aida) addressed the upgrade, improvement and integration of key research infrastructures in Europe, enabled the development of advanced detector technologies and software, also providing transnational access to these facilities. By focusing on common R&D and use of such infrastructure, the project integrated the detector development community, encouraging cross fertilization of ideas and results, and providing a coherent framework for the main technical developments of detector R&D in Europe.
This project included a large consortium of 38 beneficiaries, covering a large fraction of the European community of detector R&D for particle physics. The collaboration aimed at taking advantage of the world-class infrastructures existing in Europe for the advancement of research on detectors for future accelerator facilities, enabling Europe to remain at the forefront of particle physics.
2.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project included a Management and Communication work package, three Networking work packages, three Transnational Access and two Joint Research Activities.
2.2.1 Management and communication
In addition to running the project, following-up the deliverables and milestones and maximizing its scientific and technical output for the High Energy Physics (HEP) community, an important management objective was to strengthen the collaborative aspects between the partners towards new ideas/projects within and outside the scope of AIDA.
2.2.2 Networking activities
AIDA had three networking activities: WP2 (Development of software common tools), WP3 (Microelectronics and detector/electronics integration) and WP4 (Relations with industry). These networking activities were the suitable places to share technologies and explore new promising ideas.
WP2 aimed at creating a network to develop new software tools that could be used by the whole HEP community. The focus thereby was on creating reusable software packages that were central to the data processing in particle physics detectors, such as the description of detector geometry and material properties. This included misalignment tools for the reconstruction of charged particle tracks, and algorithms for combining these tracks with calorimeter showers into fully reconstructed particles, following the so called Particle Flow paradigm. These software tools were expected to be designed in a framework-independent way, so that they could be reused beyond the specific context or experiment in which they have been originally developed. The work was organized in two scientific tasks. Task 2.2 ,“Geometry Toolkit for HEP”, aimed at improving and unifying the description of complex geometrical shapes, and creating software infrastructure to describe complete particle physics detectors to a high level of detail for the purpose of simulation and reconstruction. Task 2.3 or “Reconstruction toolkit for HEP” provided generic software tools and algorithms for track finding and fitting, detector alignment and particle flow reconstruction for highly granular calorimeters.
WP3 aimed to establish a network of groups working collaboratively on advanced semiconductor technologies and high density interconnection processes for applications in particle physics at HEP facilities. The main motivation came from the strict requirements set on pixel detectors for tracking and vertexing at future particle physics experiments at HL-LHC, B factories and Linear Colliders. To go beyond the state-of-the-art, the main issues were studying low-mass high-bandwidth applications with radiation hardness capabilities and low power consumption, offering complex functionality with small pixel size and without dead regions. The interfaces and interconnects of sensors to electronic readout integrated circuits are a key challenge for new research infrastructures. New technologies like 3D integration and small scale CMOS and SOI technologies have the potential to provide solutions to these issues. This WP assessed the possibilities of 3D integration (Task 3.2) and provided IP blocks for these advanced ASIC technologies (Task 3.3). These IP blocks provided the basis for a common library that could be shared among microelectronic designers, simplifying the development of new detector readout chips.
WP4 addressed relations with industry which plays a crucial role in the construction of large particle physics experiments. The huge number of detector components would make use of the most advanced technologies that are expected to reach full industrial maturity after the end of the project. Extremely challenging requirements of future HEP experiments call for close collaboration between academia and industry. This collaboration should start as early as possible and address prototyping at the R&D stage, through to qualification testing and later tendering and purchasing. Within the above context, the overall goal of WP4 was to address the technology needs, specifications and trends in several areas of particle physics over the next 5-10 years, via relations between the particle physics experimental community and industry, organized on topical academia-industry workshops. These interactions also looked at spin-off applications, including collaboration and co-development with other fields where this might be relevant. This networking activity emphasised the relevance of particle physics detector R&D to other areas of research, as well as to society in general.
2.2.3 Transnational access
Testing detector prototype performance using particle beams is a mandatory step to assess the viability of technologies and geometries before the final design of a detector, or to calibrate assembled modules. Similarly, irradiation facilities are essential to select materials and components that can withstand the radiation environment of future experiments. Granting access to these facilities to European R&D teams is therefore of prime importance, especially for young PhD/students for whom these tests are essential training in instrumentation.
The Transnational access activities were organized along two ways, benefitting from world-class European Infrastructures:
• Test beam facilities at DESY-WP5 (low energy electrons and positrons) and CERN-WP6 (wide range of particles and energy).
• Irradiation facilities, mainly targeted to cover the LHC detectors upgrade in terms of flux and particles types, at the TRIGA-Mark-II reactor for neutron irradiations at JSI in Slovenia; the Neutron Irradiation Facility, Light Ion Irradiation Facility and Gamma Irradiation Facility at UCL in Belgium and the Compact Cyclotron for proton irradiations at KIT in Germany (WP7) and at CERN for protons and mixed field irradiations (WP6).
2.2.4 Joint research activities
The two JRA activities were WP8 (Improvement and equipment of irradiation and test beam lines) and WP9 (Advanced infrastructure for detector R&D). They were mainly focused on upgrading existing detector infrastructures or creating new ones in view of the new challenges to be tackled.
WP8 aimed at upgrading test beams and irradiation facilities to match the requirements of the new experiments, testing materials and components for their performance in a radiation field and coordinating beam tests of the Linear Collider community and providing a common DAQ (data acquisition) for these tests. Particular objectives were to study the implementation of a low energy beam line at CERN for neutrino experiments, to improve the Frascati Beam Test Facility user infrastructure, to design a new proton irradiation facility at CERN and deliver part of its infrastructure (movable tables, cold boxes, beam and fluence monitoring). Further deliverables were the creation of a public online database on the properties of irradiated materials and components and irradiation tests on specific items, the design and construction of neutrino physics prototype detectors (TASD and MIND), user infrastructure for the new gamma irradiation facility GIF++ at CERN and the commissioning of a beam telescope to be produced by WP9. Finally, test beam activities needed to be fostered through infrastructure projects providing a powerful and unified control and acquisition system and an engineering data management system framework serving as a central data management platform for large international HEP collaborations.
WP9 aimed at the development of common infrastructure, accessible under the Transnational Access (TA) scheme, in support of the detector R&D programmes in Europe. The activity was organized around three HEP detector fields: gaseous detectors, pixel and Silicon detectors, and finally calorimeters. In the first one, the goal was to upgrade the gaseous tracking test stand for the Time Projection Chamber at DESY (refurbished solenoid, readout electronics) and to extend the capability of the CERN Micro Pattern Gas Detector workshop to produce larger area chambers. Measuring the position accuracy performance of many detectors needs a very precise external measurement to be compared with. Such an apparatus is in large demand in the community. While an FP6-EUDET pixel telescope was already in use under the AIDA TA, the objective was to deliver a new one, based permanently at CERN and satisfying the user community in terms of excellent spatial resolution but also providing LHC-style time resolution and self-triggering capability with an upgraded infrastructure (power supply, CO2 cooling plant, etc. ). For the calorimeter application, the resolution requirements are relaxed but the area to cover is larger, therefore a beam telescope with micro strips had to be built. New trends in calorimetry are towards ultra-granular detector to apply particle flow reconstruction. Various absorbers and sensitive media needed to be explored as well as detector readout: dedicated infrastructures for these tests were produced. Finally the matching of the simulation of hadronic showers to data was a key element to be assessed with the recorded test-beam data.
Project Results:
3. THE MAIN S&T RESULTS / FOREGROUND
3.1 AIDA NETWORKING ACTIVITIES
AIDA had three networking activities: WP2 (Development of software common tools), WP3 (Microelectronics and detector/electronics integration) and WP4 (Relations with industry).
3.1.1 Development of common software tools (WP2)
Geometry Toolkit for HEP
The main result of this task was the development of a generic detector description software toolkit for simulation and reconstruction applications in HEP experiments such as Linear Collider, LHC and the recently launched FCC study.
A detailed and realistic description of the detector geometry and its material properties is an essential component for the development of almost all data processing applications in HEP experiments. This is particularly true for the case of Monte Carlo simulations, where the exact knowledge of the position, shape and material contents of every detector component is crucial for the accuracy of the simulated detector response and underlying physics. For the subsequent processing steps of digitization and reconstruction it is equally important to have an accurate description of the detector geometry, which should ideally be created from the same source in order to avoid possible inconsistencies. The DD4hep (Detector Description for HEP) software package, developed in AIDA, is a generic geometry toolkit that builds on the two most widely used software packages in HEP: Geant4 and ROOT. It combines their independent geometry implementations into one consistent detector description model, which is augmented with an extension mechanism for attaching user defined data objects at every level of the geometrical hierarchy. Thereby it allows providing all the physical properties of the individual detector components that are needed at every step of the data processing, such as alignment constants, measurement surfaces or visualization attributes. Through this mechanism it is possible to provide appropriate and consistent views on to the detector geometry for simulation, reconstruction, analysis and visualization of HEP data from one single source.
The sub-package DDRec consists of a set of generic pre-defined data structures and application interfaces providing the additional information needed for reconstruction, such as for example measurement surfaces with material properties (automatically averaged along given thicknesses from the detailed model) for the purpose of track fitting. ILD, CLICdp and the three FCC detector design studies now actively use DD4hep.
As mentioned above, Geant4 and ROOT have both independent implementations of geometry libraries, at the cores of which are the description of basic geometrical shapes and the functionality to compose them into arbitrary complex detector setups and to navigate in these. It is estimated that 70-80% of the effort for code maintenance is due to these geometrical primitives in both implementations. In order to overcome this situation the USolids package was developed in AIDA. After the creation of an extensive testing suite for all shape implementations and the corresponding geometrical methods, such as isPointInside() or distanceToOut(), a detailed benchmarking between the two existing implementations was performed in order to select the best algorithms for the new unified library. Wherever possible, new and more efficient algorithms with significantly better performance have been developed, such as for Multi-Union, Tessellated Solid, Polyhedra, and Polycone.
USolids was first released in Geant4 10.0 as an optional component and will eventually become the new standard. It is planned to also integrate USolids into ROOT soon.
Reconstruction Toolkit for HEP
A generic pattern recognition, track fitting and alignment software were developed in this task as well as an advanced particle flow software framework. These tools are already in use by the LC, LHC and neutrino physics communities.
Tracking toolkit
The reconstruction of the momentum and path of charged particles forms an essential part of data processing in HEP experiments. The task is typically divided into the two steps of finding the track, the pattern recognition; and into computing the best set of parameters using fitting algorithms such as Kalman-filters or the General Broken Lines (GBL) algorithm. Tools for both steps have been developed and combined through the definition of an abstract interface that links both tasks without coupling them directly, allowing the choice of the best combination of pattern recognition and track fitting tools. In order to take material effects like multiple scattering and energy loss into account, detailed knowledge of the detector geometry is essential. This is provided through the DDRec interface into the DD4hep detector model.
The tracking tools have been partially developed in the context of the CMS experiment, preparing for the Run 2 of the LHC with its envisaged high pile-up environment and partly in the context of the ILD detector concept for International Linear Collider. Immediate application to both experiments demonstrates the usability of the software tools. Care has been taken to have as little as possible dependencies to the actual frameworks in order to allow for the re-use of the tracking tools.
Alignment Software Tools
The accurate determination of the positions of elements of a detector is essential for obtaining the optimal detector performance. Therefore alignment methods, which evaluate the position of detector elements, are needed for any particle physics experiment. A software package called BACH (Basic Alignment and Reconstruction Chain) has been written to provide a common tool for the alignment of telescope-like detectors. It describes the complete analysis chain of a telescope detector, from simulation to reconstruction. The initial version of this tool has been applied to support the operations of the Timepix telescope supported in WP8.
In parallel, tools for monitoring the misalignment and allowing for the correction of weak modes of the vertex detector (VELO) of the LHCb experiment have been developed and helped to improve the Impact Parameter resolution.
Particle Flow Software Tools
Particle Flow reconstruction of highly granular detectors is a relatively novel concept in particle physics. Due to the nature of the problem, the pattern recognition algorithms tend to be complex and involve many steps. Furthermore, the large number of energy deposits requires a robust and efficient software framework. The PandoraPFA software toolkit provides such a framework for implementing advanced particle flow and pattern recognition algorithms that can be used across multiple projects and experiments. To demonstrate its effectiveness, a first version of a complete set of particle flow reconstruction algorithms have been implemented and benchmarked in the context of the ILC and CLIC detectors.
Furthermore, interfaces and algorithms have been provided that enable PandoraPFA to be used for studies for future neutrino experiments, both LBNE in the US and LBNO in Europe, by reconstructing events in LAr-TPCs.
Trigger Simulation
Developing a new tracking detector using full Monte Carlo simulations is a rather time consuming process since it requires a significant effort to implement each new detailed geometry model and adaptation of the pattern recognition algorithms involved. For the expected high multiplicities of charged particles at the HL-LHC a fast track trigger at first level with an optimized tracker layout will have to be implemented in the CMS experiment. The tkLayout tool was developed to address this issue. It allows for rapid evaluation of different tracker geometries and their key characteristics, such as material budget, resolution and trigger performance.
3.1.2 Microelectronics and detector/electronics integration (WP3)
New pixel detectors are requiring better spatial resolution and small occupancy in high density tracks environment, therefore small pixel size and reduced material are mandatory. 3D interconnection is the most promising way to solve this issue and the exploration of these technologies was the main activity of this WP. For such a process, dedicated and more and more complex ASICs, need to be designed: creating a common library of IP blocks is therefore an added value for the HEP community.
3D interconnection
The technologies investigated for the 3D interconnection between the sensors and readout chips for the fabrication of pixel detectors, led to many diverse results. Large diameter TSVs have proven to be a mature technology for detectors of the next decade. Thanks to the latest technology they can be applied to almost any ASIC. On the other hand, processes aiming for high density interconnections with high aspect ratio, narrow vias provided mixed results.
This activity was structured in eight subprojects testing different 3D technologies using different vendors. The original objectives of these subprojects were:
a) Interconnection of the ATLAS FEI4 chips to sensors using bump bonding from Fraunhofer-IZM (large interconnection pitch).
b) Interconnection of MEDIPIX3 chips to pixel sensors using the CEA-LETI process.
c) Interconnection of chips from Tezzaron/Chartered to edgeless sensors and/or CMOS sensors using an advanced interconnection process (T-MICRO or others).
d) Readout ASICs in 65nm technology interconnected using the CEA-LETI or EMFT process.
e) Interconnection of ATLAS FEI4 chips to sensors using SLID interconnection from Fraunhofer-EMFT.
f) 3D interconnection of 2 layers of Geiger-Mode APD arrays with integrated readout in Tezzaron/Chartered technology.
g) Interconnection of the two layers of a 2-Tier readout ASIC for a CZT pixel sensor using the Fraunhofer-EMFT SLID technology.
Since the subprojects explored different technologies with various challenges, it could not be expected that all of them produced the same level of results over the timespan of the project. Some subprojects investigated 3D technologies which have the potential to lead to high-density 3D interconnection processes but still face technological challenges. Others used more mature technologies. They do not offer highest interconnection density but can still lead to substantial improvements of the detector performance. As expected these latter projects turned out to be the most successful ones. This was the case for the subproject (b) using a technology offered by CEA-LETI for which a demonstrator has been built. Large diameter TSVs provided access from a metal redistribution layer on the backside to the chip’s IO pads. Other subprojects focusing on similar technologies (large low aspect ratio vias at the periphery for backside connectivity) were quite successful as well: (a) using the FEI3 chip with a Fraunhofer IZM technology and (g) with T-Micro. In summary, the TSV technology is available and can be applied as “via-last technology” to almost any ASIC. Interconnection technology is less of a challenge as standard bump bonding will suffice.
On the other hand, projects which aimed for high density interconnections with high aspect ratio, narrow vias were less successful. For the interconnection standard bump bonding had to be replaced by more advanced technologies. The SLID technology was tried in three projects with mixed results. A successful SLID interconnection could be demonstrated by subproject (e) using a process by Fraunhofer EMFT. However the yield was low and results could not (yet) be reproduced by (g) using the same process by EMFT. A third project (c) which used a SLID technology by Fraunhofer IMS has not been evaluated yet. Equally narrow TSVs were used with mixed results also. While Fraunhofer EMFT did not succeed with the Tungsten filling of narrow vias in project (e) the identical technology worked for (g). This indicates that the process is not yet fully stabilized and large fluctuation of quality and yield occur.
The most advanced 3D processes use “via-first technologies”. In this case one is bound to a specific ASIC technology and a vendor supporting this process. Such a possibility was offered by Tezzaron, as a Multi Project Wafer (MPW) at the time the project started. Since this was the most advanced technology accessible it was mandatory within this framework to try and assess this technology. A ‘proof of principle’ of the process could be achieved, nevertheless it became obvious that it is technically still very difficult and at the end it took more than four years to produce chips with very low yield. Some subprojects suffered from the non-availability of the Tezzaron 3D integration process. While the project (f) essentially stopped after completion of the design, the project (c) redirected its efforts towards evaluating a new interconnection technology based on SLID offered by Fraunhofer IMS.
Shareable IP blocs
Two sets of IP blocks (65 nm CMOS and 180 nm SOI CMOS) were defined, designed and tested serving as basis for a shared library of future designs of readout chips for pixel detectors.
The goal was to promote the creation of a network of designers developing a shareable library of circuit blocks that can be used by the community in various detector readout chips. The evolution of microelectronics towards miniaturization (also called “CMOS scaling”) brings along an increased complexity of the technology itself and of the design tools, as well as much larger costs. As compared to consumer electronics, the HEP community is a low-volume customer that has to approach advanced CMOS processes in a collaborative way in order to be successful. Two different technologies were chosen in order to address the requirements of different detector applications. The 65 nm CMOS node was chosen for the first set of IP blocks in view of the development of new readout chips with high functional density, high data rate capability and high radiation hardness, complying with the requirements of the next generation of pixel detectors at HL-LHC (High Luminosity LHC) in the next decade and at CLIC. Among the various available technology options, the Low Power (LP) flavor of the 65 nm process was selected because it was considered to be the most interesting option in view of the design of mixed-signal (analog and digital) chips. CERN negotiated and signed a contract with TSMC (the CMOS foundry) and IMEC (the CMOS broker), and a multi-part nondisclosure agreement (NDA) was distributed to the WP3 institutions. This NDA administrative phase took much more time than anticipated (2 years), thus delaying the work. As soon the NDA was signed a full 65 nm CMOS design kit (prepared by CERN) was distributed to AIDA beneficiaries. In parallel, micro-electronic design groups had nevertheless an individual access to the 65 nm TSMC process through the standard Europractice service. These made it possible to design and submit IP blocks in this technology. Several blocks were designed and fabricated, including bandgap voltage references, general purpose ADC, I/O pads, LVDS transmitters and receivers, and temperature sensors. Soft IPs (SRAM compiler, FIFO pixel cell readout unit) were also designed. Designs and test results for these blocks were discussed and shared among the community. The full experimental validation of the blocks is still a work in progress that is expected to continue among the partners in the course of the design of the new readout chips for HEP detector applications.
A second set of blocks was designed in a 180 nm SOI CMOS process and was more focused on readout integrated circuits for calorimeters or time proportional chambers. These detectors set demanding requirements in terms of analogue performance parameters such as large dynamic range, high speed, low noise and low offset, high voltage capability and need of precise capacitors and resistors. The 180 nm node was chosen to fulfil these requirements.
The XT018 process is a X-FAB 180 nm modular trench isolated, high voltage SOI CMOS technology. It is based on SOI wafers and the industrial standard single poly with up to six metal layers 0.18µm drawn gate length process, integrated with high voltage and Non-Volatile-Memory modules. This platform is specifically designed for a new generation of cost-effective "Super Smart Power" technology. This technology fulfils the requirements of new readout chips that will be designed to equip the next generation of calorimeters and detectors at HL-LHC, at CLIC and at ILC. The high voltage capability also offers solutions for pixel sensor design. The 6 metal layers are quite interesting to design chips with analogue and digital parts. The access of the HEP community to this technology has been coordinated and, all the designs gathered together before submitting them to X-FAB foundry. These blocks have been submitted in July 2014. A lot of 10 dies was received at the end of December 2014. Evaluation has started and will continue over the next months, with successful preliminary results already available.
3.1.3 Relations with industry (WP4)\
Seven Academia-Industry matching events (AIME) with more than 100 participating companies were organized by WP4 and helped fostering new collaborations with industry, enlarging their manufacturing capabilities to meet the needs of detector technologies. An interactive tool, called Collaboration Spotting, to analyse different technologies using publications and patents was developed by WP4. The tool is a valuable asset for both academia and industry and is also used by communities beyond HEP.
AIDA focused on developing and applying a platform of exchange (matching events) between academic and industrial players with a view of matching the technology needs of future detectors with the capability of industry to meet these needs. Early industry-academia collaborations are expected to contribute to the improvement of the quality and pricing of industrial offerings, to give industry the possibility of testing new techniques and pushing their technical capability further, and possibly in a later stage deploy the newly developed technologies in other research disciplines and/or industrial applications. The Academia-industry matching concept consists in putting together academic and industry experts to discuss trends, needs and capabilities in relation with narrow technical topics of interest to detectors and requiring an important R&D activity in collaboration with industry.
In total, since the AIDA kick-off meeting in February 2011, seven Academia Industry Matching topical Events (3 by AIDA and 4 in collaboration with HEPTech) and four national events with a wider focus in relation with detector technologies were organized covering most of the technology fields of importance for detectors at accelerators.
These events and their preparations have been conducted through an analysis based on the technology under focus at the event, its readiness level and its possible use in other research disciplines than particle physics or in industry. A total of 611 people attended these events with an average of 87 participants per event. The attendance was linked to the size of the academic community of interest and to the number of companies having manufacturing and/or integrating capability. A total of 101 companies attended the seven events for an average of 14 companies per event. For technology topics where Europe could meet the needs of academia, the percentage of EU industry at the event was about 90% or above. This percentage went down to 70% when the leading industry for a technology topic is in the US and/or Asia. This was clearly the case for 3D interconnections where key industry players are outside Europe.
The analysis concluded that interactions between academia and industry strongly depend on the type and readiness level of the technology under focus and its use in detectors. For each academia-industry matching event, a deep understanding of academic expectations and a good knowledge of the possible industrial applications are required to increase the chances of early R&D collaborations with industry. For instance, when the main challenge lies in motivating industrial partners to invest in sophisticated production lines for building detectors, Academia must convince industry that such detectors have a real market potential beyond particle physics and to this end physicists must often devote some of their resources to building proof-of-concept devices and even pre-industrial prototypes. This is typically the case for gaseous detectors that have to demonstrate cost-effective use in applications such as ore mining or muon tomography scanners.
Attracting students in undertaking scientific studies and contributing to the training of future physicists and engineers is an integral part of the physics community’s responsibility. To this end, the Weizmann Institute has developed ten TGC-based detector demonstrators for high school students to view cosmic rays and understand how gaseous detectors operate. Other institutions in AIDA have developed demonstrators for high schools and universities using other technologies. Industry is needed to take over academia to address the growing demand of educational detector toolkits for high-school physics students. This can also constitute an attractive aspect for motivating industry in partnering with academia to acquire the technology.
Most of the detector projects related to AIDA are entering the pre-construction phase, therefore future matching events will have to account for the detector dimension in addition to the work already undertaken at the technology level. This is of particular importance for projects where specific technology combinations or scale of usage may unveil new problems calling for additional R&D to complement the selected solutions. For instance providing detector alignment and cooling, or supplying power to various components without compromising the detector efficiency while minimizing consumptions are issues that will need to be addressed in future matching events together with the technologies of concern.
Within this work package, CERN developed a graph-based interactive tool called Collaboration Spotting that processes all the publications and patents related to a particular technology topic and displays various graphs to assist organizers in identifying key players, monitoring and assessing the impact of a workshop, and understanding better how technologies develop and mature.
As an example, the graphs show the main industry (red) and academic (blue) organisations for Through Silicon Vias (TSV), one of the technologies addressed at the AIME on 3D interconnections with the help of Collaboration Spotting.
From these graphs, one can clearly identify key industrial players and how they collaborate with one another and with academia. Looking into their respective publications and patents will provide a good insight on their contributions to TSV and on the maturity of the technology.
The technologies addressed in the matching events have been processed and are regrouped in a graph called technology landscape along with other technologies from particle and nuclear physics. In this graph, individual vertices correspond to technologies, and edges between two vertices to papers and/or patents related to the technologies of the corresponding vertices. From each technology vertex, the organisation, subject category and author keyword landscapes are fully accessible. Navigating across these graphs can either be achieved via a technology vertex or using vertices of one landscape to access other landscapes related to a specific technology. In any graphs, histograms showing the distribution of publications and patents across the years are available.
3.2 AIDA TRANSNATIONAL ACCESS
Two kinds of facilities were offered under AIDA Transnational Access:
• test beam with electrons, positrons, muons and pions at DESY and CERN;
• irradiation facilities at the TRIGA-Mark-II reactor at JSI in Slovenia for neutrons irradiation, at the Neutron Irradiation Facility, Light Ion Irradiation Facility and Gamma Irradiation Facility at UCL in Belgium, the Compact Cyclotron for proton irradiations at KIT in Germany and the proton and mixed field irradiation facilities at CERN.
The beam units offered by CERN and DESY are free of charge and the EC funding was mostly dedicated to the support of users. For most of the irradiation campaigns on the other hand, the users did not come on site and the irradiation operation was done by facility manpower: the EC funding was therefore mostly used for the beam units and to ship back the irradiated components to the users.
Test beam facilities
354 users benefitted from transnational access to the test beam facilities at DESY and CERN. The two facilities exceeded the access units committed by about a factor of 2 and 3 respectively.
Europe has two world class facilities to test particle detectors with beams, which are highly demanded in the HEP community:
• CERN is unique with its PS and SPS beam lines offering a wide variety of particles (electron, muon, pion and proton) from GeV up to more than 250 GeV. The facility has provided 1,768 beams units (8h shifts) to 160 users (contractual commitment: 600 units);
• DESY provides high energetic particles in the multi-GeV range. Due to its easy handling, the DESY test beam is an excellent facility for early prototype testing where many accesses to the beam area might be required. The facility has provided 71.2 beams units (beam weeks) to 194 users (contractual commitment: 40 units).
Both sites benefited also of the EUDET/AIDA telescope. DESY was also offering a dedicated infrastructure for the test of gaseous detectors and their electronics upgraded under AIDA.
Over the AIDA timespan, due to the long accelerator LHC shutdown, the CERN test-beam has been available only in 2011-2012, well complemented by DESY test beam available over the remaining periods. The large fraction of trackers tests, mostly from the LHC community, reflected clearly that the most challenging detectors to be upgraded are foreseen to be those of the HL-LHC. The new ATLAS inner B layer (IBL) installed recently in the experiment benefitted a lot also from the TA for the qualification of production modules and validation of performance. All these tests were using pixel telescopes supported by AIDA. The CALICE collaboration underwent a few test-beam at CERN with the AIDA Tungsten infrastructure which revealed to be quite useful to validate the hadronic showers models. The test of the SiW calorimeter validated mostly the technical aspects as electronics or DAQ. The DESY TPC has been intensively used for test of GEM and micromegas detectors with novel amplifications structure or new electronics readout.
Irradiation Facilities Transnational access
337 users benefitted from transnational access to the irradiation facilities at CERN IRRAD East Hall, JSI, UCL and KIT, either by being present on site to conduct their experiments or by sending samples to the facilities to be irradiated. All the access units committed by the four irradiation facilities were delivered and three of them exceeded the contractual commitments.
The AIDA irradiation facilities were selecting and providing support according to the community needs and their complementarity:
The TRIGA-Mark-II reactor at JSI in Slovenia delivered fast neutron fluences up to 1016 cm-2 within one hour. The unit of access is a reactor hour, including sample preparation, cool off and handling neutron irradiations, as no users came on site but preferred to ship their components. Over the project, 630 units (beam hour) were provided under the TA with a high demand (540 committed). The JSI TA facility was mainly used to irradiate sensors, electronics and module prototypes to the extremely high doses expected at HL-LHC (>80%). Sensors included planar Silicon, 3-D Silicon, HV-CMOS and diamond. A limited proportion of projects dealt with irradiation of devices for the B-factories and the linear collider. One of the highlights resulting from AIDA TA to JSI reactor was the choice and verification of sensor technology for the module prototypes of ATLAS IBL, the pixel layer closest to the beam instated into the existing pixel detector. The required benchmark fluence is 6x1015neq/cm2. Several of the prototype sensors and modules were irradiated. The results of module tests were published in 2012 and served as the basis for validation of the module technology.
The KIT compact cyclotron in Germany runs at 25 MeV and 1-2 A and provided fluences up 5x1015neq/cm², which can be reached easily with an accessible area of 40x15 cm2. Over the project, 160 units (beam hour) were provided (160 committed), and similarly to JSI no user came on site. The TA was exclusively used to irradiate trackers components (sensors, readout chips) for LHC experiments again with the ATLAS IBL sensors, a R&D project of CMS to validate radiation hardness of thin Silicon sensor materials (CMS HPK campaign), the validation of radiation hardness of the new digital CMS Pixel Readout Chip and non-uniform irradiations of ATLAS AFP and LHCb VELO. For instance the CMS R&D project campaign resulted in 9 publications and 3 PhD theses and provided the basic knowledge on which the CMS Collaboration bases its decision on the sensor material for the production of a new Tracker in 2018.
The CRC Facility at UCL in Belgium has various irradiation facilities (fast neutrons, protons and heavy ions) providing moderate fluences (~1014 1-MeV neq/cm2 in ~24h) but allowing readout and control of DUT during irradiations. Also, and complementary to the two other facilities, larger detector area can be covered. Over the project, 275 units (beam hour) were provided (250 committed), as well as user support on site. About half of the users had projects related to the LHC, while the other half were linked to NA62 experiment or material tests. Complex objects as readout chips were irradiated, focusing not only on the fluence but also on the behaviour of the samples. With online monitoring of the component response along the radiation dose Single Event Effects could be studied. An interesting result has also been obtained with the irradiation of optical fibre developed by LHCb for which a fast transparency recovery has been observed.
The CERN irradiation facilities in the PS East Hall (proton and mixed field) were made available to 23 users from 5 projects. A total of 264 units (8h shifts) were provided (200 committed). In preparation for the luminosity upgrade of the LHC (HL-LHC), the CMS Tracker Collaboration evaluated the best sensor material for a new tracker to be optimized for higher peak and integrated luminosity with respect to the present tracker. Experiments around the development of a new kind of radiation monitoring device for CERN IRRAD East Hall were also carried out.
3.3 AIDA JOINT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
The two JRA activities were WP8 (Improvement and equipment of irradiation and test beam lines) and WP9 (Advanced infrastructure for detector R&D).
3.3.1 Improvement and equipment of irradiation and test beam lines (WP8)
Detector design, construction and operation closely link with test beam availability, to validate prototypes under realistic conditions or calibrate production modules. Similarly, irradiation facilities are essential to select materials and components for the radiation environment of future experiments. This work package aimed at adapting test beams and irradiation facilities to the requirements of these experiments, testing materials and components for their performance in a radiation field and coordinating beam tests of the Linear Collider community and providing a common DAQ for these tests.
Test beam infrastructure at CERN and Frascati
The possible implementation of a new beam line in the H8 beam of CERN North Area, able to provide 1-9 GeV/c electrons, pions and muons was studied. The Frascati beam line has been upgraded and commissioned with new beam characterisation equipment now available for facility users.
At CERN a design study was conducted for low-energy 1 to 9 GeV/c electron, pion and muon beams needed by neutrino detector community. The specification of the beam line has been documented by the neutrino community. Two beam layout adapted to the available space in the H8 beam line of the CERN SPS North Area, have been proposed.
The design challenges and optimization steps in the production of low-energy particles has been investigated and the optimization studies, mainly the choice of geometrical parameters and material of the secondary target from where the low-energy particles emerge, has been performed using Monte Carlo simulation codes.
The optimized beam layout and optics for the tertiary branch aimed to momentum select the low-energy particles and maximize the beam transmission allowing in a single configuration to switch between different particle types and momenta. Possible implementation of the new beam line in the H8 beam of CERN North Area was studied and documented.
At FRASCATI the test beam infrastructure has been successfully completed. Moreover, the BTF (Beam Test Facility) user access in Frascati during the 4 years has been of an average of about 220 days/year, 8 days/group, 20 groups/year. In summary, over the project duration, the following activities were achieved:
• Equipping the facility with a remote controlled table: The table was designed, tested and is operational since spring 2011. The characteristics of this equipment are described in a note .
• Equipping the facility of beam tracing system with a resolution lower than 100 μm: A 3D track system has been developed at the Frascati Laboratory. It consists of a compact TPC with 4 cm drift, and a triple GEM structure as readout system. Since 2012, the tracker system has been tested at BTF in various conditions of particle multiplicity. A resolution of 80 μm for a single particle has been measured when correlating data with a MEDIPIX telescope.
• Qualifying the BTF beam energy spread: A LYSO calorimeter prepared originally as a SuperB prototype has been commissioned as a monitor for the beam energy at the BTF Facility and its energy resolution has been studied. A correction factor has been applied, evaluated by Monte Carlo simulation, to subtract the contribution of the leakage contribution. A good energy resolution is obtained also in this configuration, with a constant term of about 3%.
• DAQ and beam diagnostics integration. The BTF multipurpose DAQ system has been continuously updated and developed during the four years in order to host new devices (remote controlled table, MEDIPIX, neutrons monitors, environmental station, etc) and develop a Graphical Users Interface for users.
Moreover, the user experience feedback at the BTF over these four years has been very positive and benefitted from the continuous integration of new diagnostics, and DAQ upgrade.
CERN PS proton & mixed-field irradiation facilities
A new proton irradiation facility (IRRAD) has been designed and constructed in the CERN PS East Area, going well-beyond the design study that was originally foreseen in AIDA.
Based on previous studies performed at CERN, the need and requirements for irradiation facilities at CERN based on slow extracted proton beams were re-evaluated, confirmed and consolidated within this work package. The CERN East Area was found to be an appropriate location to place a facility that combines a proton and a mixed-field irradiation facility in one single beam line. In collaboration with several CERN departments the layout of the facility was conceived and optimized. Dedicated FLUKA simulation studies on the facility configuration and shielding were performed in the framework of AIDA and used to converge towards an optimized facility layout in compliance with all relevant safety regulations. The construction of the facility was approved in 2012 by the CERN management and started in the end of 2013 with the dismantling of the existing infrastructure in the relevant beam lines of the East Area. The overall new infrastructure contains a proton and a mixed irradiation field facility. The proton facility is based on a design study and implementation plan performed in the framework of the AIDA project.
The new proton irradiation facility (named IRRAD) has been constructed upstream of the new mixed-field facility (named CHARM). The proton facility (IRRAD) bunker is subdivided in three zones according to the nature of the samples to be irradiated. The first zone is dedicated to the irradiation of “light” materials such as small Silicon detectors, the second zone to the irradiation of intermediate materials such as electronic cards and components, while the third zone is optimized to perform irradiation experiments on “high-Z” materials such as samples of calorimeter crystals. In this last zone, it is also possible to perform irradiations in cryogenic conditions using a dedicated setup operating with liquid Helium. Moreover, a fourth zone, in a partially shielded area, is equipped for the installation of readout electronics and/or DAQ systems that need to be close to the Devices Under Test (DUT) during irradiation. The commissioning started in October 2014 and in November/December 2014 a first irradiation campaign for facility users was performed. At the proton facility a total of 177 objects for users from various Experiments (CMS, RADMON, ATLAS, RD18, LHCb) and the accelerator sector (CERN-BE) have been exposed to the 24 GeV/c proton beam.
Part of the proton facility (IRRAD) equipment was also produced in the framework of this task and commissioned in the period of October to December 2014. Remote controlled tables have been designed, constructed, tested at CERN and finally installed in the irradiation facility for the first irradiation experiments in November 2014. A shuttle system that is carrying devices under test from the counting room directly into the beam area has been designed and constructed by the CERN team and installed in the irradiation facility as well. Part of the irradiation experiments have to be performed in cold boxes with typical temperatures around -20°C in order to provide realistic operational conditions for the components under test during the irradiation experiment. Cold boxes have been designed and produced, tested in-situ at the Birmingham irradiation facility and finally delivered to CERN at the end of 2014 and will be commissioned with beam at CERN in the first irradiation campaign in 2015.
Finally, a fluence monitoring system VUTEG-5-AIDA based on the direct relation between carrier recombination lifetime in Silicon (Si) and density of radiation induced extended defects has been built. In this apparatus, the measurements are performed in a contactless manner on pure Si wafer fragments using a microwave absorption technique. The sample chamber is temperature controlled and provides a 1D scanning possibility to measure beam profiles. This apparatus will remain operational at CERN up to 2016 included.
Qualification of components and common database
An online database called IMHOTEP on the properties of irradiated materials and components was developed and populated with data. More than 270 records with historical and new data were added to the database.
This task aimed for testing and documenting data on radiation damage to materials and components. It started with a review on existing data and experience from LHC irradiation and a definition of an irradiation test program and then continued with the testing of materials and components. Finally, an online database on material and component radiation testing was developed and implemented.
The performed irradiation tests focussed on a series of electronic devices, pixel sensors, inorganic scintillators and composite materials, epoxy raisins and other components relevant for HEP applications. The results can be accessed through the online database IMHOTEP. This database has been produced to provide a common point of reference for detectors, electronic components and materials used in detector construction at CERN and elsewhere for HEP detectors and accelerators.
Currently the database holds over 270 records while historical and new data is being added. The database relates closely to the LHC detector and machine upgrade efforts in that it is the easiest way to locate relevant test data on radiation damage tolerance tests. Potentially, the database is relevant to most HEP projects worldwide such as the future lepton colliders (ILC, CLIC) or hadrons colliders (FCC). It is planned to support and promote the development of the database at STFC-RAL on a “best efforts” basis to ensure its long term operation and benefit to the community.
Commissioning of a beam tracking telescope
The task provided technical support for the use of the beam telescope at DESY and CERN. The AIDA beam tracking telescope was commissioned and is now also available to users.
A pixel beam telescope (constructed during the FP6-EUDET project) based on six CMOS sensors (Mimosa26) with its Trigger Logic Unit (TLU), the EUDAQ framework, the offline reconstruction software based library and the EUTelescope library, have been in much demand throughout all the AIDA project years. Within the AIDA project, the development of the EUDET telescope was further extended and thus it was renamed as the AIDA telescope. This was developed in WP9 and it became a system capable of integrating devices of different readout type with high efficiency. It has been demonstrated that monolithic sensors and hybrid type detectors can be efficiently used as constructing blocks for a test-beam telescope. Using different detector technologies in one setup can be eventually very beneficial for detector R&D programs. The final AIDA telescope configuration brings together the high spatial resolution of Mimosa26 sensors and the self-triggering and time resolution features of FEI4 based detectors. The test-beam telescope was also extended in terms of cooling and powering infrastructure. A new central dead-time-free trigger logic unit (miniTLU) and data acquisition framework (EUDAQ2.0) have been developed to provide LHC-speed response with one-trigger-per-particle operating mode and a synchronous clock for all connected devices. The offline software framework includes the test-beam telescope data reconstruction and analysis package EUTelescope v1.0 based and a rich system of offline software development tools with user and developer forum. The AIDA test-beam telescope has been commissioned with the FEI4 based detector as triggering and time-stamping plane and Detector Control System for regular temperature and humidity control of the DUT. The complete Large Area Telescope was tested in November 2014 completing the commissioning of the telescope in the AIDA framework.
TASD and MIND: Prototype detectors for neutrino physics
TASD was commissioned at the MICE beam line in the UK and is performing beyond expectations. The MIND detector has been redesigned, and its components selected, procured and tested for a future construction.
The task included the study of prototypes of future neutrino detectors and the design and implementation of two prototype detectors: a Totally Active Scintillator Detector (TASD), mainly for electron charge identification, and a Magnetized Iron Neutrino Detector (MIND) mainly for muon charge identification.
The TASD was designed, constructed and commissioned in laboratory during summer 2013, before being installed for tests at the end of the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) beam line in September 2013 as no CERN beams were available. The data analysis performed during last year showed an effective rejection of the 11.7% electron contamination in the beam and a muon sample purity of 99.85%, performing well above the requirement of 99% purity. No dead channels were observed, and only 2 out of 5,664 channels were mismatched mechanically, an achievement when taking into consideration the complexity of the fiber bundles and testament to the dedication of the technical teams that were relatively inexperienced in the handling of optical fibers at the beginning of the project.
With the announcement of the Daya Bay results of March 2012 indicating a shift in prospects for neutrino facilities worldwide, the initial plans to build a standard MIND prototype were reformulated within the AIDA consortium to design a MIND in line with requirements for future experiments and useful for the European HEP community. The result was a redesign of the magnetization of the iron plates enabling better muon charge identification efficiencies at lower momenta, down to 1 GeV/c. Moreover, an extensive testing of the electronics with prototype evaluation boards, the 8400 plastic scintillator bars, and several types of Silicon photomultipliers fully validated the design.
The MIND prototype has been integrated in the CERN Neutrino Platform approved in 2014, which foresees some space and resources allocated to neutrino detector prototypes in a dedicated zone in the North Area building EHN1.
GIF++: A new gamma irradiation facility
The GIF++ facility was constructed in the CERN North Area. It includes a beam tracker, cosmic tracker, radiation dosimeters, gas and environmental sensors, DCS and DAQ systems to best meet user needs.
In 2014 the new gamma irradiation facility GIF++ was constructed at CERN. The facility will be a fundamental tool for the preparation of detectors to be installed at the HL-LHC. The facility makes use of a 14 TBq 137Cs source (Eγ=662 keV) and a 100 GeV/c muon beam. When no beam will be available, cosmic rays can be used for testing purposes. To best profit of the facility capabilities several user infrastructure items have been realized and delivered in the framework of AIDA: beam-tracker, cosmic tracker, radiation dosimeters, gas/environmental sensors, DCS and DAQ systems. Particular care has been devoted to the flexibility of the infrastructure in order to avoid, whenever possible, duplication of the work load on the users.
The Beam Tracker consists of two doublets of TGC chambers that have been installed in front and in the back of the GIF++ facility containing a pad readout in each plane (to provide the trigger), a high precision readout in each plane (to provide a precise vertical coordinate) and a second coordinate in each plane to provide, using a group of wires, the horizontal coordinate. The doublets were tested with the quasi-final electronics, which was also used for the installation of the tracker. The tracking detectors for GIF++ have thus achieved their expected performance. However, they will still profit from an upgrade of the electronics planned for mid-2015, which will further improve the performance and the radiation tolerance of the overall tracking system.
The Cosmic Ray Telescope is based on RPCs and has been designed to combine different needs, from offering large area coverage to provide reliable comic tracks. It consists of two main sub-systems: a wide-angle tracker located below the ceiling and a large area confirmation plane installed below the floor. The top telescope consists of 5 detectors 50x100 cm2 suspended from the ceiling or sustained by a support at about 4.5 m from the floor. The gas gap and the front-end electronics have been conceived to withstand the high photon flux generated by the GIF++ irradiator. The time resolution on a single gas gap is 400ps and operation up to 20 kHz/cm2 without loss in performance has been demonstrated. The confirmation plane installed below the floor consists of two large area RPC doublets (280x120cm2 each). All in all, the telescope was equipped with about 500 channels and offers maximum possible solid angle coverage within the facility. The high time resolution of the RPCs allows providing a sufficiently clean prompt trigger to the DAQ while the offline tracking allows discarding the spurious triggers for the detectors being tested outside of the ground instrumented area.
The Radiation Monitoring System for control of the absorbed dose during the irradiation of sub-detectors at GIF++ has been designed, constructed and tested. The monitoring concept is based on the use of two types of RadFET detectors with different sensitivity reaching up to 10KGy. The system itself has been extensively tested and calibrated in the old GIF facility.
The Gas and Environmental Sensors consist of 10 measurement stations recording temperature, humidity and pressure. A basic Detector Control System setup has been realized and is ready to include hardware needed by the fixed detectors as well as by the detectors under test. Finally, the DAQ system has been successfully tested with the beam tracker TGC chambers and RPC chambers of the cosmic tracker. The system is ready.
Common test beam experiments and Common DAQ
The CERN and DESY EDMS systems are fully operational as data management platforms, containing about 150 documents each. The common DAQ is also operational and is used by the telescope community.
An important aspect of the AIDA infrastructure project was to provide a powerful and unified control and acquisition system and an engineering data management system framework serving as a central data management platform for large international HEP collaborations and more specific also for the AIDA infrastructure developments within WP9. Significant progress was made on the tools and framework needed for a unified DAQ system, which will become the foundation of the common DAQ system for the LC collider detectors tests. During AIDA, the concept of a common DAQ was developed and tested. Parts of the system were in intense use by the telescope community, the global system has undergone bench tests. A planned common system test at CERN could not take place since at the time of proposal the long shutdown of the CERN accelerator complex was not scheduled.
Data taking with limited combination of detectors took place, however, during 2014. The AIDA engineering data management system has been installed on servers at DESY, is fully operational and is already serving several detector projects as data management platform. At the time of writing this report, some 150 documents have been committed to the DESY instance of the system, for a range of projects. About the same number of documents is available on the CERN instance.
3.3.2 Advanced infrastructure for detector R&D (WP9)
The activity of the work package has been organized around the three main technologies used in particle physics: gaseous detectors (Time Projection Chamber, muons chambers), solid state detectors (Pixel and Silicon micro-strips) and the calorimeters. Designing and validating these detectors requires up to date infrastructures.
Gaseous detector facilities
The DESY gaseous tracking detectors have been upgraded proving to be a unique facility for the test of Micro Pattern Gas Detectors (MPGDs). The CERN MPGD workshop capability has been improved and large area detectors are now produced.
Micromegas and GEMs detectors are very promising for the next detector generation colliders assuming large area chambers can be produced. The CERN Micro Pattern Gas Detector workshop has therefore been equipped with new machines extending their capability to produced large area PCBs and commissioned with AIDA resources. This new large-area line has already produced structures for more than 10 projects. Large-scale production is envisaged, among others, for the upgrade of the ATLAS muon chambers (the new small muon wheel) or the CMS phase 2 upgrade.
The gaseous tracking facility at DESY includes a large-bore 1 Tesla solenoid PCMAG, with an endplate that can be instrumented for test with different TPC readout electronics. The solenoid magnet has been refurbished allowing now long operation period.
Several readout schemes for gaseous detectors have been developed under AIDA. One of the most recent additions is the pixelated readout that uses an evolution of the Front End chip of solid-state pixel detectors to read out the signal that is formed in the gas. The InGRID structure has a miniature gas amplification structure, with a granularity of several tens of microns interfaced to the 55 um readout granularity of the MediPix chips. Beam tests showed that a large area can be reliably instrumented. The spatial resolution is found to reach the limit due to diffusion of the charge carriers while drifting through the gas volume.
These new AIDA infrastructures play a key role in gaseous detector R&D, where the workshop provides novel amplification structures for detector prototypes and the large TPC test area at DESY is the unique test bed to evaluate their performance.
Pixel Beam Telescope
The AIDA beam telescope infrastructure, including new telescope planes and arm, FEI4 readout and a CO2 cooling plant was delivered.
The beam telescope developed under EUDET, and several additional copies made afterwards, are available to users under the AIDA TA scheme. AIDA furthermore provided a large-area telescope arm and fast arm and extended the ancillary infrastructure (DAQ, offline software, Detector Control System and CO2 cooling plant).
Large-area telescope arm
The large-area SALAT plane exploits the MIMOSA-28 CMOS pixel sensors, currently the largest of its kind dedicated to charged particle detection. To achieve the excellent spatial resolution of ~3.5 m required for a precise reconstruction of the particle trajectory the detector is segmented into square pixels with an area of 20.7 x 20.7 m2. Each sensor has a total of 960 x 928 columns and rows, for a sensitive area of 19.9 mm2 x 19.2 mm2 = 3.8 cm2. The large-area planes are assembled using four such sensors tiled onto a thin mylar foil. The material in the path of the particles is limited to 50 m of mylar (with a radiation length X0 = 28.7 cm) and 50 m of Silicon of the thinned MIMOSA sensors. This ensures that the trajectory can be extrapolated to the device under test with a precision of a few microns even in relatively low energy beams, such as the test beams at DESY.
The readout architecture is based on a column parallel readout with amplification and correlated double sampling within each pixel. Each column is terminated with a high precision, offset compensating, discriminator and is read out in a rolling shutter mode at a frequency of 5 MHz (200 ns/row). The MIMOSA-28 architecture is adapted for a hit rate in excess of 106 hits/cm2/s, while dissipating a power below 150 mW/cm2 operating at room temperature (30°C). The large-area telescope arm was delivered to AIDA in 2014 and commissioned in the CERN beam line.
Fast telescope arm
One of the aims of the beam telescope task of the AIDA project was to further broaden the user base of the EUDET telescope, and in particular to attract more users from the R&D community involved in the upgrades of the LHC experiments. Much work has gone on within the project to integrate LHC-style readout chips with the MIMOSA-based telescope. The choice of technology is a hybrid pixel sensor equipped with the FEI4 readout developed for the ATLAS pixel detector. The pixel matrix of the FE-I4 consists of rectangular pixels arranged in 80 columns with 250 µm pitch and 336 rows with 50 µm pitch, resulting in a total sensitive size of 18.6 × 20 mm2. The ASIC is built in CMOS technology with a feature size of 130 nm. A dedicated PCB that accommodates 4 FEI4 chips (QUAD PCB) has been designed and produced. The successful tests in the lab and beam with two FEI4 modules placed on the PCB, the other two being placed later, have demonstrated good performance of the quad-plane PCB.
The presence of one or several FEI4 layers in the telescope offers several additional functionalities:
The FEI4 plane can be used to define a Region-of-Interest of arbitrary shape in the trigger. The FE-I4 chip can amplify and discriminate the signal of the charge generated in the sensor. Each pixel has embedded the same analog circuitry, which outputs a rectangular pulse that is high as long as the signal is above an adjustable threshold. This pulse is further processed digitally by the standard readout but it can also act as an input to a wired OR - the HitOR feature of all pixels. The connection of each pixel to the HitOR is configurable through the Enable HitOR local pixel register. The OR of all pixel signals is fed into the trigger logic unit (TLU) to create a trigger signal and distribute it to all the attached planes. Thus, users can program the active area of the telescope trigger, a feature that is very helpful when very small devices are tested. This feature was tested and proven to work in a test beam that involved the MIMOSA telescope, the FEI4 RoI plane and a DEPFET device under test.
The FEI4 planes are also used to provide a time stamp that tags a particle as “in time” or “out of time” with respect to the fast clock of the LHC tracking and vertexing devices. In the synchronous trigger distribution mode the DAQ systems participating in the test beam are expected to accept and record a clock cycle number for every incoming trigger. In this operation mode some detector systems (like Mimosa26) can have up to a hundred particles in one readout packet, sharing one coarse granularity time-stamp, which have to be associated to a list of fine trigger timestamps from the TLU without space information of the particles. In order to solve the space-time matching problem a fast detector based on ATLAS FEI4 chip has been foreseen in the AIDA telescope. The FEI4 based module provides a flexible triggering capabilities and in case it is included in the readout data stream also the time-stamping for every particle triggered by the TLU. The intrinsic FEI4 resolution is limited to a single LHC machine bunch-crossing, which corresponds to 25 ns. The overall timing resolution below 1 ns can be obtained from the AIDA TLU and the space pointing resolution coming from the six Mimosa26 planes, to be kept at about 2 μm.
The Timepix chip family is considered as an alternative for the high rate test-beam telescope. The Timepix telescope, built by the Medipix and LHCb collaboration, was made available within the AIDA Transnational Access and offers similar performance in terms of the average resolution and time resolution at high beam energies. The Timepix modules integration in the EUDET telescope (TLU handshake, EUDAQ, and EUTelescope reconstruction package) has been performed by CLICpix collaboration. This has demonstrated the possibilities to use same user interface at beam tests for detectors with continuous readout (Mimosa26), trigger based readout (FEI4), and shutter based system (Timepix).
Further developments include all ancillary systems (Trigger Logic Unit, EuDAQ data acquisition system, EuTelescope offline analysis framework, detector control system and new CO2 cooling plant).
Among the many results obtained with the telescope infrastructure the beam tests of the ATLAS Inner B-layer prototypes are among the most important. This new layer for the ATLAS vertex detector was installed recently, and is currently operated successfully in the experiment. During the long R&D period that preceded its construction, numerous prototypes were submitted to beam tests to evaluate their response to high-energy charged particles. These included two sensor designs (both the classical planar pixels that are used in the central part of the detector and the novel 3D pixel detectors used in the most forward and backward sections). Prototypes were furthermore irradiated to the unprecedented fluence of non-ionizing radiation that the detector must survive during its lifetime in the LHC. The ATLAS IBL collaboration routinely used the telescope made available under the AIDA TA funding to measure the trajectory of particles in the CERN and DESY beam lines.
The telescope infrastructure attracts a large and growing community of users.
Calorimeter Infrastructure
The infrastructure to test novel, highly granular calorimeter concepts was developed, including a large Tungsten structure, front-end electronics and a micro-strip telescope. Data recorded with these prototypes enabled new more precise validation of the hadronic shower simulation models.
Ultra-granular calorimeters (or imaging calorimeters) constitutes the direction to follow to achieve the needed performance, especially jet resolution in the new collider experiments. Various absorber and sensitive media, and dedicated readout (ASICs) should be explored. Several stacks to study the response of novel, ultra-granular calorimeter concepts to electrons (for EM calorimetry) and pions (for hadronic calorimetry) have been built including their electronics readout. These include a Si-W EM prototype, an HCAL stack that can be equipped with digital or analog readout, a special Tungsten stack that studies the performance of this compact absorber material, and a Forward Calorimeter. In addition, a micro-strip detector setup that provides an entry point for particles entering the calorimeter has been built.
The building of ‘central’ highly granular electromagnetic calorimeter cumulates many technical challenges: the high density of channels (typically a 1,000-fold w.r.t. classic calorimetry) to be treated with integrated electronics, which has to be low-power and passively cooled, low noise and cross-talk, limited dead material and ‘invisible’ – yet rigid – mechanical structure. The forward calorimeters should handle much higher rates in confined and radiation-hard environment. Some dedicated developments required to build fore-coming realistic prototypes have been supported by AIDA and are described below.
Front-end electronics for central calorimeters
The 2nd generation of the ‘ROC ASICs’ fits the basic needs for the central highly granular calorimeters: signal pre-amplification and triggering, signal shaping and digitisation in one single unit handling 32 to 64 channels, with versions adapted to all the sensors: SKIROC2 [Si-W ECAL], SPIROC2 [AHCAL], HARDROC2 [GRPC–SDHCAL], MICROROC [Micromega–SDHCAL].
In the scope of AIDA, an improved design for 3rd generation of ROC chips was developed, where the channels are handled independently to perform on-chip zero suppression, and an I2C link with triple voting was integrated for the control of the ASIC, to allow handling larger number of chips in a single detector unit and radiation tolerance. HARDROC3 is the first of the 3rd generation ASIC. A first limited engineering run funded through AIDA allowed for the validation on electronics test benches and the correction of minor errors. A larger production has been launched in January 2015. It will allow for testing in real condition with the SDHCAL (below).
Silicon-Tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter – Si-W ECAL
The Si-W ECAL of CALICE is probably the central calorimeter where the instrumental and technological and industrialisation requirements are the most entangled. They mostly concentrate on the design of the modular ‘base unit’ of detectors (dubbed ASU), stitched together to form detection elements (dubbed SLABs). Each ASU is 18×18 cm² wide. It connects Silicon sensors to 16 SKIROC2 ASICs (for a total of 1,024 channels), and to its 2 neighbouring ASU’s. AIDA contributed to support the incremental designs and tests of the first complete ASU.
Beam tests with up to eight single-ASU SLAB’s with a detection area of 9×9 cm2 (a single wafer) were performed in 2012 and 2013. Signal to noise ratio not lower than 10:1 was achieved. With the conclusion of the beam tests in 2012 and 2013 small design defects were found and corrected, validating the concept and implementation of the ECAL layers. The first full ASU with 16 ASICs and 4 wafers is ongoing and four Si wafers have already been glued onto a PCB with success. A quality certified assembly chain has also been built and used for this complete test.
Analogue hadronic calorimeter – AHCAL
For the analogue HCAL, the challenge concerns the production of a large quantity of small scintillator tiles (typically 3×3 cm²) ensuring uniformity and their optical-mechanical mounting onto readout boards (dubbed HBU) while maintaining a calibrated response. New active modules were developed during the AIDA project. Their realisation is based on a network of groups working on the optimization of the design, which allowed e.g. for the first time to test fibre-less scintillating tiles while keeping a good uniformity of the response. Readout electronics, similar to that of the Silicon ECAL described before, was used.
The efforts culminated recently in a beam test with hadrons at the CERN PS in 2014 to assess the new design: altogether 8 small layers (featuring 1 HBU) and four big layers (4 HBUs) were tested in a steel structure with shape and size compatible with a large detector such as ILD. The channel wise power supply, developed within AIDA, will be also integrated soon into the setup.
This beam test has been conducted jointly with an electromagnetic calorimeter that is also based on the scintillation technique (built outside the scope of AIDA) as well as recently with one layer of the Si-W ECAL layers mentioned above. This was the first use of the infrastructure for combined calorimeter beam tests, including common DAQ SW.
Semi-digital GRPC hadronic calorimeter – GRPC-SDHCAL
The hadronic calorimetry for ILC using Glass Resistive Plate Chambers (GRPC), small cells (1×1 cm²) and a semi-digital readout faces two challenges: keeping gaseous sensors uniform and integrating their readout over large area (typically up to 3 m²) in a confined space. For LHC detectors the recovery time of classic RPC (~10 ms) is problematic. AIDA helped addressing these issues.
Large RPC detectors (2–3 m2), their readout electronics and self-supporting mechanical frame to host them have been designed. A novel gas distribution scheme inside the RPC detectors was conceived to insure uniform irrigation with reduced dead space and a single side service.
The new HARDROC3 ASIC improves the readout of RPC detectors with both the zero-suppression and I2C protocols. Electronics boards adapted to large detectors with reduced cost are being designed.
The work on the chambers as introduced above opened the possibility to work on chambers that can sustain high rates, i.e. bigger than 100 Hz/cm2. Beam tests with this kind of chambers were conducted in 2013 at the DESY beam test facility.
Forward calorimeters – FCAL
The forward calorimetry, ensuring in particular luminosity measurement and beam position feedback, has to cope with specific issues: high rates, high radiation and high mechanical precision. A multilayer Tungsten structure was built to serve the last two issues. It includes: a mechanical structure housing up to 30 sandwich type Si-W modules, ten precisely thinned (accuracy of ~50um) Tungsten absorber plates, and four prototype detector modules, each one containing a Si or GaAs pad sensor, a 32-channel readout board with dedicated front-end and ADC ASICs and a FPGA based back-end electronics. After commissioning the functionality of the multilayer calorimeter structure was demonstrated with beams of hadrons, muons and electrons. Further prototype structures of a laser alignment system based on a) semi-transparent Silicon sensors for relative measurements in transversal direction, and b) Frequency Scanning Interferometry (FSI) for absolute position measurement, were also built. Preliminary measurements demonstrated its feasibility for the final alignment system. The built infrastructure will be used in future test-beams of forward calorimeters, in particular for the BeamCal and LumiCal studies.
For future larger tests, multi-channel adapted readout electronics was missing: two 8-channel ASICs were designed and fabricated in deep sub-micron CMOS 130 nm technology, one handling the front-end and the second an ADC. Performances were found to be similar to the ones of the older CMOS 0.35um technology. However, the new ASICs fulfil all critical requirements of the final calorimeter, dissipating an order of magnitude less power, allowing power-pulsed operation, and being radiation-hard. These new ASICs will be the core of a next generation compact detector module.
Hadronic shower validation
An important step was the creation of a Tungsten calorimeter stack that allows to characterize for the first time the performance of this material for deep and compact calorimeters at high-energy colliders using different sensitive media (scintillating tiles, RPCs, etc.).
This infrastructure, together with the above prototypes has been used in many test beams especially with hadron particles at CERN. These ultra-granular calorimeter readout allows to characterize in detail the longitudinal and lateral profile of the hadronic shower that develops in the stacked layers of absorber and sensitive material. Further studies revealed the differences in time structure in Tungsten compared to more conventional steel structures . The observed lateral and longitudinal shower developments, as well as its time structure, were compared carefully with the predictions of several models. Remarkably good agreement was observed for the QGSP_BERT_HP physics list, which is used extensively in the LHC experiments.
A device to provide a precise reference position (“entry point”) for the granular calorimetry infrastructure was built. This mini-telescope is based on conventional micro-strip detector technology. The system furthermore includes a complete readout system and the required software. The device was tested in a beam of particles, satisfying all requirement. More advanced components were produced in the project and can be used in the future extension of this infrastructure.
The micro-strip telescope is currently available for use with the calorimeter infrastructure. Due to the LS1 shutdown of all CERN accelerators, no test of the deliverable with high-energy hadrons was possible so far. Operation of the mini-telescope together with the calorimeter moreover is expected to happen in 2015.
Potential Impact:
4. POTENTIAL IMPACT, DISSEMINATION, EXPLOITATION OF RESULTS
4.1 STRATEGIC IMPACT
4.1.1 Contribution to policy developments
The AIDA participants, representing the major European laboratories, research institutes and universities in the field of detector development at accelerators, have an impact at several levels, from scientific and technological implementations to policy developments. In particular, AIDA contributed to the update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics in 2013 demonstrating the need for coherent and coordinated detector R&D and advanced infrastructures in Europe such as irradiation and test-beam facilities. As the main detector R&D forum, catalysing future global projects (HL-LHC, ILC, CLIC, B factory, neutrinos long baseline etc.), AIDA organized a common feedback to the topic consultation for integrating research infrastructures in 2012, followed by a successful proposal (AIDA-2020) to the H2020 call in September 2014. After four years, the project has been recognized as the most appropriate framework to discuss detector infrastructure upgrades and implement common cross-project developments in Europe.
4.1.2 Well-coordinated research programmes and priorities
Detector development projects have always been quite diverse and focused on the needs of the individual experiment. The AIDA Integrated Activity took up the challenge to create a concerted detector R&D effort throughout Europe, to increase the efficiency and impact of the detector development cycle, and to maximise the synergy between different communities, including the LHC upgrade, Linear Colliders and Neutrino facilities. Strong collaborations have been established in most of the activities, especially in the software and micro-electronics networks. The simulation and reconstruction packages developed jointly by the LC and LHC groups are now used in a wider community, i.e. the FCC study and future neutrino experiments. Most of the 3D integration sub-projects brought together groups with interest in different future experiments (B factory, CLIC, ILC, all LHC experiments including ALICE). In a similar way, the new AIDA telescope emerged from the shared efforts of ILC, ATLAS and CMS groups. AIDA has also setup the foundation of new collaboration: ultra-granular calorimetry is now extended from the LC community to FCC and HL-LHC. The gaseous detector originally focused only on MGPD at LC are now used in HL-LHC (ATLAS muon inner wheel) and the RPC are now included. Finally the upgrade of the irradiation facility at CERN is going beyond the detector development itself, as also requested by the accelerator community (IRRAD).
The successful efforts of AIDA to bring together the diverse detector community has also been demonstrated in the planning and submission of the new AIDA-2020 project. During the proposal preparation phase several groups outside of AIDA expressed interest in participating in AIDA-2020, thus showing clear appreciation of the concerted efforts in this field.
4.1.3 Developments of world-class infrastructures (JRA)
The EC contribution in supporting the AIDA project catalysed a collaborative approach to advanced detector development throughout Europe and facilitated the implementation of world-class infrastructures that require joint research spanning many countries and European facilities. Developing these infrastructures allows Europe to retain its leading position in particle physics. The AIDA joint research activities have delivered key developments, concepts and designs for test beam and irradiation facilities and advanced detector infrastructures.
In the framework of AIDA, CERN, DESY and BTF Frascati have greatly boosted the R&D, testing and commissioning work of their detector infrastructures. The upgrade of the equipment of these facilities was required to provide instrumentation to evaluate accurately the performance of the tested prototypes. The BTF is now able to provide precise characteristics of its beam to the users. The DESY gaseous infrastructure, and its large aperture solenoid (PCMAG), is unique in Europe to characterize MGPDs and their readout electronics. The DESY and CERN beam lines are now equipped with excellent resolution beam telescopes; for instance large-area and fast telescope arms can now be used at CERN. Providing cutting-edge equipment and related data acquisition and software improves the efficiency of the beam-allocated time to users. It also provides an easier access to smaller size groups, not involved in large collaborations or coming from other scientific fields. Beam telescopes were used by more than 50 % of the users at CERN and DESY. One third of DESY users also benefitted from the PCMAG. The calorimeter Tungsten infrastructure at CERN was used by various groups of the CALICE project, including users from the US.
The impact will be even more visible in the future, as the AIDA test and irradiation facilities have been prepared in view of future challenges, namely the next generation of HEP colliders. In this context, it has to be mentioned that the infrastructures upgraded or developed through AIDA have unique testing capabilities, e.g. the test beam and irradiation facilities of CERN.
Another major impact delivered by the project is the new radiation facility in the CERN East Area, of which the construction and commissioning were not originally foreseen during the lifetime of AIDA. However, the AIDA community with the help of its Advisory Committee in collaboration with several CERN departments succeeded in convincing the CERN management to go beyond the design and perform the construction during the course of AIDA. The construction of the facility was approved in 2012 by the CERN management and started in the end of 2013 with the dismantling of the infrastructure of one closed experiment (DIRAC) in the relevant beam lines of the East Area. This facility will act as a crucial component for radiation testing for the community and its future collider projects (detector and accelerator). The radiation testing and the implementation of a public radiation damage on materials and components database has an even wider scope, reaching well beyond the HEP community. All technical applications operating in and suffering from intense radiation or radiation fields like e.g. space, nuclear or medical applications benefit from the collection and sharing of the data provided in the database. Furthermore, collaborations across different sectors in radiation damage R&D are fostered by making the accumulated data and the corresponding contact points of expertise easily available.
4.1.4 Knowledge sharing and excellent research institutions
The knowledge sharing aspect of AIDA’s impact was primarily achieved by the excellent networking (NA) and transnational access (TA) activities.
Opening six facilities across Europe to scientists far beyond the consortium members allowed 202 groups (projects) from 26 countries to bring their experiments to the world class TA infrastructures.
• The ATLAS collaboration recently build a new vertex layer at small radius (IBL) to improve its b quark identification capability. The two technologies used (planar pixel and 3D sensor) have been validated through radiation tests at KIT and JSI. The position resolution has been measured under various conditions on many modules before and after irradiation with the beam telescope both at DESY and CERN depending of their respective availability. The impact of AIDA is described in a number of ATLAS publications. The ATLAS IBL has been installed in 2014 and is operational for the LHC restart in 2015.
• The CALICE collaboration has been exploring the development of ultra-granular calorimeters both for electromagnetic and hadronic showers. The data recorded by the test-beams at CERN and DESY with their prototypes provided a set of new data, allowing the detailed study of the hadronic shower characteristics longitudinally and laterally and also their time structure. Such information is crucial for reliable detector simulations.
• Non-HEP or non-EU-home-based experiments also made an efficient use of AIDA TA: the nuclear physics CBM experiment at the future FAIR facility in Germany, the Belle II experiment at Japan and the SPS tracker from JLab (US) demonstrated the value of the unique detector facilities of AIDA.
The large LHC experiments consist of several tens of millions of lines of code developed by hundreds of scientists, and since parts of this code have been developed specifically for each experiment, it contains a significant amount of duplication. Under the software NA activity, AIDA has helped in developing the culture of generic software that can be re-used in many places for future projects, beyond the AIDA community. In this sense, the HEP community is getting organized around the idea of a HEP Software Foundation to encourage collaboration and software re-use. AIDA has provided a good example and is the proof that this approach is not only feasible, but also desirable. The project has demonstrated that generic software tools can be developed and can be used by several experiments at the same time. The packages and software toolkits developed in AIDA have been tested and evaluated in real use-cases for the experiments in the wide community, covering from the LHC, the Linear Collider and more recently the Future Circular Collider.
In the last 20 years, microelectronics has been the key element to use new technologies for the HEP detectors or improve their performance. However the complexity of the new readout and the quickly evolving technologies (not driven by HEP needs but more by the computing and telecommunication industries) make a networking approach unavoidable and necessitate sharing results and experience. The microelectronics NA of AIDA explored various novel technology options for the interconnection of detectors and readout chips, including the 3D integration techniques that appear to be a rather promising tool for the design of future pixel detectors. The novel technologies can be more or less aggressive and risky, depending on the density of interconnections and of vertical vias (Through Silicon Vias) across the Silicon substrates. “Via last processes” with large TSVs in the periphery are mature in a sense that only minor R&D is needed. They could be envisaged as baseline technology for new detectors in the next decade. For the more advanced technologies, further basic R&D has to be performed, especially in terms of reliability. The creation of circuit libraries in advanced microelectronic technologies (65 nm CMOS and 180 nm SOI CMOS) has a large impact in view of the design of detector readout chips for the next generation of HEP experiments. The network of microelectronic designers established by AIDA makes it possible to tackle the huge complexity of these technologies and to devise the development of large mixed-signal integrated circuits satisfying extremely demanding performance requirements in terms of radiation tolerance, functional density, and capability of handling huge data rates. Part of the IP blocks designed in 65 nm will be used by the RD53 collaboration at CERN.
The main benefit of AIDA is the enhanced expertise and knowledge that flows from carrying out the project, thereby fostering the excellence of the participating universities and research institutes.
4.1.5 Relations between academia and industry in Europe
AIDA has introduced the concept of Academia-Industry Matching Events focusing on specific technologies, which have proven to be very successful. They have also been adopted both by other communities in particle physics, such as the micro-pattern gaseous community (RD51) or accelerator communities (cryogenics, superconducting magnets, vacuum technologies and beam monitoring), and also by other communities outside particle physics. In particular the Extreme Light Infrastructures (ELI) and XFEL have organised two events using the same concept, focusing on laser technologies, and are planning more. In some cases, new partnership between academia and industry has been established, but in most of the events it especially helps to bridge the gap between academic institutes able to conduct innovative R&D and industry, which might need to industrialize the process of these detectors elements.
An interesting impact of the project on relations between academia and industry is generated from the graph-based interactive tool, ColSpotting , whose kick-off idea has been emerging from AIDA. It offers the possibility to widen the range of pertinent industrial players to more than those currently in the procurement database of Research Infrastructures. A systematic search of players for each key technology can provide a rich overview of the industrial landscape for a particular scientific domain and foster R&D collaboration between academia and industry. European companies having a leading role in the development of a particular technology can easily be identified and invited to attend matching events and therefore increase their chances to take part in challenging development activities that very often can be reused in various applications with societal impact.
4.1.6 Wider benefits to European science and society
The Networking and Joint Research Activities of AIDA have brought some fundamental advances that drive particle detector development: software design and simulation tools, novel micro-electronics and 3D interconnection techniques, and advanced gaseous, pixel and Silicon detector technologies.
These developments match the needs of the future generation of particle physics experiments but have also significant impact on other European or global research infrastructures using similar detector components and technologies, such as the ones used by the nuclear physics, astrophysics, space science, synchrotron and spallation source communities.
In addition to direct utilisation and further detector R&D in the scientific fields mentioned above, the detector technologies developed and advanced by AIDA are expected to lead to collaborations with industry concerning applications with wide societal impact, for example medical equipment, environmental and radiation monitoring systems, and novel inspection and safety devices.
78 PhD students have been involved in AIDA and benefited from the networking and collaborative opportunities offered within the project. These young researchers have acquired technical skills and valuable practical experience in a multi-disciplinary and international environment. Past experience of the particle physics community shows that about half of these PhD students would pursue careers ultimately outside the area of scientific research, and many of them would be recruited by industry.
The impact of AIDA on the society at large can therefore be seen in two main directions. First, direct impact of development and sharing of novel technologies for sensors, microelectronics and integrated systems. Then the indirect impact of technology transfer through industrial R&D projects and uptake of promising technologies in a wide range of applications, as well as training of the next generation of scientists and engineers.
AIDA has contributed significantly to providing excellent practical training to young researchers via the Student Tutorials organized during the Annual Events. In total, 74 students from and outside the AIDA consortium attended these events, 16 with financial support of AIDA. The topics covered by these tutorials were: Solid State Detectors, Gaseous Detectors in HEP, Trigger, DAQ and Control System.
Examples of successful knowledge transfer from particle physics to other areas include medical imaging. Some of the ASICs developed for HEP under AIDA are already successfully applied in e.g. medical imaging (PET), material characterisation, radiation monitoring and volcanology. The improvements in Geant4 may be used in enhanced simulations for medical and space applications. The CMOS sensors and MEDIPIX developed in AIDA can also be used for medical applications or in the ALICE experiment.
The Collaboration Spotting tool, developed under AIDA, provides very useful means of visualising patterns and particular data arrangements that helps understanding the technology landscape and unravelling innovation mechanisms beyond the physics community. A further analysis of the underlying concepts has confirmed that this graph-based interactive tool can potentially be used to visualise other data sources than publications and patents. Financial data, project and procurement data but also genomics are amongst the data sources under evaluation at the moment. Ultimately, the tool is expected to provide users means of building combinations of interactive graphs processed from any datasets in relation with Big Data, produced in various scientific disciplines.
4.2 DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION
The Communication and dissemination Task 1.2 ensured the flow of information within the AIDA community and targeted audiences such as the wider scientific community, industry, and the general public, by developing and implementing effective communication tools.
4.2.1 Dissemination tools and activities
Website
The AIDA website (http://cern.ch/aida) was the main communication tool for storage and dissemination of project results. It was created in January 2011, before the start of the project, and was maintained with Work Package highlights, news and event announcements and the project results collected under the Deliverables and Milestones sections. To reach the general public, an Education and Outreach section was developed in period 2 and features educational resources related to detectors in general and also information about schools for young researchers to participate in. The website was also one of the main sources of information for the scientific community interested to apply to AIDA Transnational Access. It is to be noted that the average number of visitors per month (565) exceeded the AIDA members by at least a factor of 2 and was even higher during AIDA-related events. The AIDA website visitors were searching for information about the project, opportunities for transnational access, as well as project-related events and results. The figure below, shows the top-visited website pages for the project duration, with noticeable peaks during the last year of the project and an increase in searches related to AIDA results.
Publications and reports
All the AIDA publications and reports are available in open access and can be browsed on the AIDA CDS collection by type, work package or keywords. As of 31st of March 2015, the total number of publications added to the AIDA CDS collection amounted to (excluding the deliverable and milestone reports):
Academic theses Status reports Misc. Journal publications Scientific/
Technical Notes Presentations Conference/
Workshop contributions Total
8 7 16 120 23 36 59 269
In addition, AIDA has produced 55 deliverable reports and 32 milestone reports.
Scientific and technical results were published in peer-reviewed publications such as:
• Journal of Instrumentation (JINST) – 46 publications
• Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A (NIM A) – 43 publications
In addition, 13 publications were submitted to the Instrumentation and Detector section of the Open Access arXiv.org database.
AIDA results were also presented by project members at major international conferences including:
• Workshop on Vertex Detectors (Vertex) – 10 presentations and/or proceedings
• IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC) – 9 presentations and/or proceedings
• Technology and Instrumentation in Particle Physics (TIPP) – 7 presentations and/or proceedings
• Calorimetry for High Energy Physics Frontier (CHEF) – 5 presentations and/or proceedings
• International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics (Calor) – 4 presentations and/or proceedings
• Topical Workshop on Electronics for Particle Physics (TWEPP) – 2 presentations and/or proceedings
• Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics (CHEP) – 2 presentations and/or proceedings
A number of AIDA feature-articles were published in the CERN Bulletin, CERN Courier, PH Newsletter or LC Newsline with topics ranging from the development of a versatile beam telescope, the commissioning of the AIDA telescope, the completion of the calorimeter test beam programme to opportunities for access to AIDA test beam and irradiation facilities and general information about the project.
The project was promoted with a factsheet for the European Commission, developed in period 1.
For the detailed list of peer-reviewed publications and dissemination activities, see Annex I.
AIDA Annual Meetings
The Annual Meetings gathered participants from about 80 institutes and laboratories from 23 countries and represented an opportunity for the AIDA community to discuss the project scientific and technical achievements. Posters for the Annual Meetings were designed and then distributed to AIDA participants so that the events could be suitably advertised.
To reach young researchers, half-day public tutorials were organized during the Annual Meetings. The aim of these tutorials was to feature topics interesting for students from within and outside the Consortium. In total, 3 Student Tutorials were organized:
1. Solid State Detectors – 30 participants
2. Gaseous Detectors in HEP – 30 participants
3. Trigger, DAQ and Control System – 14 participants
Outreach activities
Many of the AIDA outreach activities were targeted to students. The project provided financial support to students participating at the EIROforum School on Instrumentation 2013 and the 5th International School of Trigger and Data Acquisition 2014. At these events, there were invited talks given by AIDA members. Furthermore, students were asked to prepare and present a poster on their research activities. One of the test beams equipped under the framework of AIDA was made available for a team of school students to run an experiment in 2014. The same competition with the same beamline (that will be available under AIDA-2020) is currently ongoing .
List of Websites:
http://cern.ch/aida
Name of the scientific representative of the project's coordinator
Title and Organisation: Laurent Serin, Scientific Coordinator, CNRS
Tel: +33 1 64 46 8501
Email: Laurent.Serin@cern.ch
