Charged particle tracking with the Timepix ASIC

Akiba, K. et al. (2012) Charged particle tracking with the Timepix ASIC. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors, and Associated Equipment, 661(1), pp. 31-49. (doi: 10.1016/j.nima.2011.09.021)

Abstract

A prototype particle tracking telescope was constructed using Timepix and Medipix ASIC hybrid pixel assemblies as the six sensing planes. Each telescope plane consisted of one 1.4 cm(2) assembly, providing a 256 x 256 array of 55 mu m square pixels. The telescope achieved a pointing resolution of 2.4 mu m at the position of the device under test. During a beam test in 2009 the telescope was used to evaluate in detail the performance of two Timepix hybrid pixel assemblies; a standard planar 300 mu m thick sensor, and 285 mu m thick double sided 3D sensor. This paper describes a charge calibration study of the pixel devices, which allows the true charge to be extracted, and reports on measurements of the charge collection characteristics and Landau distributions. The planar sensor achieved a best resolution of 4.0 +/- 0.1 mu m for angled tracks, and resolutions of between 4.4 and 11 mu m for perpendicular tracks, depending on the applied bias voltage. The double sided 3D sensor, which has significantly less charge sharing, was found to have an optimal resolution of 9.0 +/- 0.1 mu m for angled tracks, and a resolution of 16.0 +/- 0.2 mu m for perpendicular tracks. Based on these studies it is concluded that the Timepix ASIC shows an excellent performance when used as a device for charged particle tracking.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Stewart, Dr Graeme and Maneuski, Dr Dima and Hynds, Dr Daniel and Ferre Llin, Dr Lourdes and Bates, Dr Richard and Plackett, Dr Richard and Rodrigues, Dr Eduardo and Eklund, Prof Lars and Parkes, Dr Christopher
• Authors: Akiba, K., Artuso, M., Badman, R., Borgia, A., Bates, R., Bayer, F., van Beuzekom, M., Buytaert, J., Cabruja, E., Campbell, M., Collins, P., Crossley, M., Dumps, R., Eklund, L., Esperante, D., Fleta, C., Gallas, A., Gandelman, M., Garofoli, J., Gersabeck, M., Gligorov, V.V., Gordon, H., Heijne, E.H.M., Heijne, V., Hynds, D., John, M., Leflat, A., Ferre Llin, L., Llopart, X., Lozano, M., Maneuski, D., Michel, T., Nicol, M., Needham, M., Parkes, C., Pellegrini, G., Plackett, R., Poikela, T., Rodrigues, E., Stewart, G., Wang, J., and Xing, Z.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors, and Associated Equipment
• Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
• ISSN: 0168-9002
• ISSN (Online): 1872-9576
• Published Online: 21 September 2011