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Large Area, High Dynamic Range, Sold State Photomultiplier Array for Cherenkov Calorimetry

Award Information
Agency: Department of Energy
Branch: N/A
Contract: DE-FG02-07ER84918
Agency Tracking Number: 83212
Amount: $100,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: 34
Solicitation Number: DE-PS02-06ER06-30
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2007
Award Year: 2007
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
12725 SW Millikan Way Suite 230
Beaverton, OR 97005
United States
DUNS: 124348652
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 George Soli
 Mr
 (971) 223-5646
 george@voxtel-inc.com
Business Contact
 George Williams
Title: Mr
Phone: (971) 223-5646
Email: georgew@voxtel-inc.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

The Avalanche Microchannel Photo Diode (AMPD) can be used in detectors for high energy physics research. The AMPD is a multipixel array of micro pixels, joined together on a common silicon substrate and working on a common load. The pixels are decoupled in order to minimize interpixel crosstalk and work as independent high gain photon microcounters. These devices are capable of good pixel-to-pixel uniformity, provide negligible noise, and have a very low contribution from excess noise factors. However, for applications such as tile calorimeters, there are limitations with respect to scintillators and wavelength shifters. These limitations include: (1) nonlinearity of the AMPD signal when the number of photoelectrons/tile is greater than the number of pixels, and (2) high dark counts. To address these shortcomings, this project will develop a nano-AMPD structure, realized in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) materials. The approach will allow very back-thinned (e.g., 7-micron thick) detectors to be built monolithically with the AMPD elements. The approach also will allow amplifiers, biasing, pulse processing, and time-of-flight circuits to be built directly into the SOI wafer ¿ permitting a large area AMPD array to be realized. The design of the SOI CMOS AMPD arrays will be completed in Phase I, and prototypes will be built. In Phase II, a large area array will be fabricated for use in Cherenkov imaging and time-of-flight calorimetry. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: In addition to high energy and nuclear physics applications, the technology should be applicable to plasma diagnostics in the solar atmosphere, space-based optical receivers, and high-speed image capture for motion analysis. The latter is used in a wide variety of applications, including vehicle-impact testing; biomechanical research; range, aerospace, and ballistics; and particle-image velocimetry.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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