3D silicon sensors with variable electrode depth for radiation hard high resolution particle tracking

Abstract

3D sensors, with electrodes micro-processed inside the silicon bulk using Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology, were industrialized in 2012 and were installed in the first detector upgrade at the LHC, the ATLAS IBL in 2014. They are the radiation hardest sensors ever made. A new idea is now being explored to enhance the three-dimensional nature of 3D sensors by processing collecting electrodes at different depths inside the silicon bulk. This technique uses the electric field strength to suppress the charge collection effectiveness of the regions outside the p-n electrodes' overlap. Evidence of this property is supported by test beam data of irradiated and non-irradiated devices bump-bonded with pixel readout electronics and simulations. Applications include High-Luminosity Tracking in the high multiplicity LHC forward regions. This paper will describe the technical advantages of this idea and the tracking application rationale.