First large scale application of novel Si stripixel detector in real large experiment: Si VTX in PHENIX upgrade at RHIC

Abstract

2D position sensitive, single-sided Si stripixel detector was selected as the one of the two main components of the Sivertex tracker (Si SVX) in the upgraded PHENIX detector at RHIC (relativistic heavy ion collider) in Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). This is the first large scale application of the novel Si stripixel detector in a real large experiment after many years of research and development at BNL. The first and second prototype fabrication runs of the SVX stripixel detectors were carried out successfully in BNL's Si detector development and processing Lab. The processing of these stripixel detectors is similar to that for the standard single-sided strip detectors: one-sided processing, single implant for the pixel (strip) electrodes, etc. The only additional processing step is the double metal process, a technology that is simple and well matured by many Si detector processing industries and labs, including BNL. The laser and beam tests on those prototype detectors show the 2D position sensitivity and good position resolution in both X and U coordinates (about 25 μm for 80 μm pitch). For the mass production of 400 sensors needed for the Si SVX, the processing technology has been successfully transferred to the industrial: Hamamatsu Photonics (HPK). HPK has produced a pre-production run of stripixel sensors with the full PHENIX SVX specification on 150 mm diameter wafers. The laser tests on these pre-production wafers show good signal to noise ratio (about 20:1).