Technological research

The Cosenza group is involved in a set of R&D programs based on the development of novel radiation-hard silicon sensor technologies and their applications for neutron detection. Investigation of improved silicon tracking detector concepts is under way to meet the requirements of the intense radiation environment at the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LH-LHC).
Many more application fields, such as securty, medical imaging, cultural heritage, forensics, environment can benefit from adopting these developments in the field of semiconductor neutron detectors, as they become available.


2017 – 2019
DEEP 3D: Detectors for neutron imaging with Embedded Electronics Produced in 3D technology.
Starting from the TIFPA experience with 3D detectors for High Energy Physics [1] and based on the previously acquired know-how within the HYDE experiment, the DEEP 3D project has a twofold purpose:
the first aims at developing a hybrid detector module, based on 3D silicon detectors filled with enriched LiF and coupled with a Medipix [2] readout, the second foresees a monolithic design, expected to increase the spatial resolution performance by a reduction of the pixel pitch and the use of enriched Boron as converter material.

INFN groups: TIFPA, Gruppo Collegato di Cosenza
Principal Investigator: Roberto Mendicino, TIFPA
External Collaborating Institutions:
Leibnitz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Jena (Germany),
Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University, Prague
Local Coordinator: Anna Mastroberardino

1. G. –F. Dalla Betta et al., “Development of a new generation of 3D pixel sensors for HL-LHC”, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A, vol. 824, pp. 386-387, 2016
2. http://medipix.web.cern.ch/medipix

 

2012 – 2014
HYDE: HYbrid DEtectors for neutrons.
The aim of this experiment is the development of an hybrid compact neutron detector, by coupling a 3D silicon sensor [3] with a polysiloxane neutron converter [4], deposited into the 3D detector cavities. This system combines the detection of neutron reaction products, by means of the 3D sensor system, with the detection of the light produced by the polysiloxanic scintillator, by means of a photodetector.
Like other perforated diode structures so far proposed, 3D sensors are suitable to increase the interface area between the converter material and the silicon active volume. Moreover, they have the intrinsic capability to control the depletion mechanism by acting on the layout of the vertical electrodes only: the inter-electrode spacing can be designed to obtain very low depletion voltages and short charge collection times, also providing an inherent radiation hardness.
On the other side, polysiloxane is cheap and easy to synthesize, and features a stable behavior within a wide range of temperatures and a good radiation hardness up to doses of ∼50 kGy.

INFN groups: Trento, Legnaro, Gruppo Collegato di Cosenza
Local Coordinator: Anna Mastroberardino


3. S. I. Parker, C. J. Kenney, J. Segal, “3D – A proposed new architecture for solid-state silicon detectors”, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A, vol. 395, pp. 328-343, 1997
4. S. Carturan et al., “Novel polysiloxane-based scintillators for neutron detection”, Radiation Protection Dosimetry, vol. 143, n. 2-4, pp. 471-476, 2011