Development of Integrated Circuits and Smart Sensors for Particle Detection in Physics Experiments and Particle Therapy

Future particle physics experiments have to cope with increasing demands on particle detection concerning resolution and high rates. Particle detection is the key task of tracking detectors in particle physics experiments and in medical physics in the field of particle therapy. These detectors determine the trajectory of the particles, which allows the reconstruction of the vertices and the identification of the particles. Particle detection is also important for monitoring the particle beam used for medical applications in particle therapy centres. For this purpose, particle detectors are used to ensure safe and accurate treatment.

High Voltage Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (HV-MAPS) are a new promising technology for smart particle detection sensors. They offer promising time and vertex resolution, are cost-effective to produce, are radiation hard and can be thinned down to 50 μm.

The focus of the thesis is to investigate the suitability of HV-MAPS sensors for tracking detectors and beam monitoring and to develop smart sensor chips for these applications. In the course of this thesis, two HV-MAPS sensor families with multiple generations, the MuPix and HitPix, were developed in HV-CMOS technology. ... mehrThe MuPix is a large HV-CMOS sensor, which is suitable as a tracking sensor and will be used in the Mu3e experiment. It offers a time resolution of less than 10 ns and an efficiency of more than 99.8 %. The HitPix implements in-pixel counting and fast projection readout. It can handle high rates and radiation levels. This makes it suitable as a beam monitor, especially for particle therapy centres.

With the MuPix and the HitPix, two HV-MAPS chips have been successfully designed for particle detection with the advantages of HV-CMOS technology. Therefore, this thesis provides an important contribution to the application and further development of a promising new technology, both in the field of medical and particle physics.