Lockport Township High School ESRP 2025
Assembly and Characterization of a Plug-and-Play Position-Sensitive Silicon Detector Array for Use in a Solenoidal Spectrometer (SOLARIS) at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University
Authors:
Students:
- Jacob Bobek
- Michael Dierkes
- Bridget Ferriter
- Javier Gonzalez
- Elizabeth Henderson
- Emilie Knaack
- David Krzysiak
- Natalie Krumdick
- Xochitl Sekiya
Teachers:
- William Kane
Mentors:
- Benjamin Kay (Argonne National Laboratory, Physics Division)
- Russell Knaack (Argonne National Laboratory, Physics Division)
Physics | Argonne National Laboratory
In the late 2000s, Argonne National Laboratory pioneered a new technology for studying nuclear reactions with radioactive ion beams called single-nucleon transfer reactions, where individual protons or neutrons are added to the beam [1]. In this regime, the reactions are said to be carried out in inverse kinematics (heavier beam impinges upon a light target) as opposed to traditional approaches with stable ion beams (light beam impinges a heavy target). The challenge introduced in inverse kinematics is a so-called kinematic compression, which results in a loss of resolving power (peaks in a spectrum move closer together and overlap). The concept to overcome this kinematic compression was realized in the form of the HELIcal Orbit Spectrometer (HELIOS) [2]. Using a large solenoidal field (like an MRI magnet of around 3 Tesla) as the scattering chamber for single-nucleon transfer reactions results in the outgoing ions from a reaction tracing out helical orbits along the solenoid axis. Their energy and position can be determined via position-sensitive silicon detectors along the axis of the solenoid.
The technique has proven highly successful for nuclear spectroscopy, and similar devices have been developed at CERN’s ISOLDE facility [3] and, recently, the SOLARIS spectrometer at FRIB [4], which is still under development (early science results from this were enabled by a loaned detector system from the HELIOS spectrometer). For SOLARIS, two new modular (plug-and-play) position-sensitive silicon detector arrays are under development at Argonne. New silicon detectors arrived at Argonne starting November through January 2025. Essential to the completion of the detector system is the assembly and characterization of the SOLARIS silicon-detector arrays.
The arrays are being assembled using 50 10-mm sized position-sensitive sensors, of which a six-sided structure, 10 detectors long, will be assembled. The sensors need to be epoxied to detector printed circuit boards using custom 3D-printed jigs, then wire bonded. The individual sensors on the detector board will then engage with a master printed-circuit board. Prior to this, each sensor will be characterized, exploring the IV curve (the leakage current as a function of voltage) and their intrinsic resolution determined with an alpha source. The assembly and characterization are essential tasks prior to the installation of the silicon array into the SOLARIS spectrometer. In terms of the SOLARIS project, the timeframe for this project is of the order November 2024 through March 2025.
[1] A. H. Wuosmaa et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 580, 1290 (2007).
[2] J. C. Lighthall et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 622, 97 (2010).
[3] The ISOLDE Solenoidal Spectrometer website. https://isolde-solenoidal-spectrometer.web.cern.ch/
[4] The SOLARIS website. https://www.anl.gov/phy/solaris
