Abstract 547 Pitts Microfabrication of Advanced Radiation Detectors The project will develop and produce ionizing radiation detectors using modern microfabrication techniques. The scientific motivation of this project is the production of silicon semiconductor detectors and micro-strip gas counters for nuclear physics experiments at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF), "Cooler" light ion storage ring, and the MIT-Bates South Hall Ring. The microfabrication aspects of this project will include the application of advanced micromachining and electrostatic bonding techniques to the design of radiation sensors. These techniques will be developed with the assistance of the Center for Microelectronic Sensors and Microstructures at the University of Cincinnati. The design and testing of these detectors will be carried out in collaboration with the IUCF Wire Chamber group. The educational goal of this project is to train our students in the techniques of these rapidly evolving fields. Support for four students is requested as an integral part of this proposal. Participation in this project will give our students a new path to industry and graduate school. The project is driven by the need to improve two types of ionizing radiation detectors, the silicon semiconductor detector and the micro-strip gas counter. Large area silicon microstrip detectors have excellent position, timing, and energy resolution. These detectors suffer from a sensitivity to radiation damage, however, and are very expensive in customized versions. Local fabrication will allow the customization of these detectors to a much wider range of experiments and applications, and do so on a more cost effective basis. The second type of detector to be developed is the micro-strip gas counter (MSGC). First described in 1988, the MSGC is a miniaturized multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC) with the wires of the MWPC replaced by metal traces on an insulating substrate. Micromachini ng techniques such as preferential etching of crystallographic planes will be utilized to further develop these detectors and electrostatic bonding techniques will be applied to their mechanical packaging. The latter feature will result in hermetically sealed MWGCs compatible with operation inside the ultra high vacuum chamber of a storage ring.
