This award will fund the R&D needed for future lepton collider detector and in particular the SiD detector concept. It has been designed to address fundamental questions of particle physics, including the mechanism responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking and the generation of mass, the unification of forces, and the structure of space-time at small distances, including possible evidence for extra dimensions.
SiD makes extensive use of silicon detectors, which are well-matched to the challenges of ILC physics and the machine environment. They are fast, robust against machine-induced background, and capable of very fine segmentation. SiD is based on silicon tracking and silicon-tungsten sampling calorimetry, complemented by powerful pixel vertex detection, and outer hadronic calorimetry and muon detection. This award will fund the development of a process for modeling of silicon pixel detector technology using commercial 3D software tools. To make a decision between the many proposed sensor and readout technologies, and to optimize parameters such as size and charge collection efficiency, the proposal will develop precise 3D modeling of various candidate technologies.
The proposal is expected to have impact in education and outreach. There are ongoing activities at the participating universities are aimed at K-12 students an effective ways to reach students is through their teachers. New education and outreach efforts are centering on the ILC.
Cornell subcontract of the University ILC Detector R&D (2011-2013) Subaward #208161A (Cornell PI Julia Thom) The National Science Foundation has funded a 3-year program at Cornell University to simulate and fabricate semiconductor sensors in the context of Research and Development of a detector for the Linear Collider. The exceptional physics potential of a Linear Collider, mainly the possibility of studying the Higgs mechanism in detail and understanding its mysteries, has long been a major goal of the High Energy Physics Community, and its success depends critically on the design of a superior detector. Detectors at the Linear Collider face major challenges, which are believed to be met by high granularity silicon pixel sensors. Our approach has been to employ state-of-the art simulation software used in Industry to investigate the suitability of cutting edge silicon sensor and readout technology for particle detectors, in particular the use of three-dimensional integrated circuitry. We have worked closely with collaborators at the Fermi National Accelerator Center to inform detector designs before costly submission to semiconductor fabrication plants. In addition we have been able to use the facilities at the Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Center, supported by the National Science Foundation, to fabricate and test prototype devices at low cost. The PI Julia Thom has worked with Cornell undergraduate students from Physics, Applied & Engineering Physics and Electrical Engineering on these hardware and simulation projects. Many students have requested to participate, because the scientific potential of the Linear Collider physics is well known and stimulates interest among your students who see opportunities and career paths in fundamental research. We are fortunate to be able to offer a program to train and engage these students. The students have received intensive training in the cleanroom, have been able to participate in research meetings, have given talks, and have presented posters at conferences. They were also authors on some of the publications summarizing the findings. Often this project was their first exposure to research. The PI has made a special effort to engage and mentor students from underrepresented groups in this project. The findings of this project have been disseminated through numerous conference talks, proceedings, posters at Undergraduate Research Conferences, a publication ("Combining the two 3Ds", Lipton, Deptuch, Thom, et al., JINST 7 (2012) C12010), a whitepaper (available at www.snowmass2013.org/tiki-index.php?page=Instrumentation+Frontier+Whitepapers "3D Technologies for Large Area Tracker") and documentation of the software tools developed at Cornell, including tutorials. We are grateful for the funding we have received for this detector R&D program at Cornell. We have used it to train undergraduate students and to build up solid expertise in software simulations of silicon sensors, as well as silicon sensor fabrication at Cornell. This capability is quite unique for a University group, and we have received many requests to contribute to other projects, such as the Large Hadron Collider upgrade detectors, and x-ray detectors. We hope that this investment will continue to be valuable in the future.
