ESE

Silicon Photonics Circuits for Integrated Optical Readout of future High Energy Physics detectors

Fibre optic links are crucial in High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments, allowing the transmission of large volumes of data from particle detectors operating in harsh radiation environments to radiation-free zones. Silicon Photonics (SiPh) [1] has…

In discussion with Michael Campbell: Unpacking the Medipix/Timepix Revolution

The Medipix and Timepix family of hybrid pixel detectors represents one of the most groundbreaking innovations to emerge from CERN's detector technology. These chips, based on the hybrid pixel technology developed for high-energy physics experiments…

DRD7: An R&D Collaboration Pioneering Electronics for Future Particle Detectors

On June 5, 2024, the CERN Research Board approved the DRD7 Collaboration for an initial three-year period. The collaboration will focus on developing and demonstrating new electronic hardware, firmware, and software concepts. Its main goal is to…

Pushing the boundaries of monolithic CMOS sensor technologies

Silicon solid state detectors have been developed over a long time to address the challenges of particle tracking and vertexing. At the LHC, when the machine reaches its full design regime, it collides proton bunches at a rate of 40 million times…

Asterix in Switzerland

This episode of the adventures of the winged-helmed Gaul was published in 1970 and foretold what would happen 28 years later, when the CERN microelectronics group (MIC at the time, now the ME section in EP-ESE) welcomed the arrival of its first X-…

lpGBT ASIC Production

What is the lpGBT ASIC ? Figure 1: The lpGBT silicon die on the package substrate (left) and the finished product with overmold (right) The Low Power Giga Bit Transceiver (lpGBT) is a reliable, radiation-tolerant ASIC designed for use in multiple…

Wafer-level testing of CMS Outer Tracker ASICs

The Macro-Pixel ASIC (MPA) and Short-Strip ASIC (SSA) are the new read-out chips used to process particle hit signals of pixel and strip sensors in the upcoming CMS Outer Tracker of the High-Luminosity LHC Upgrade (HL-LHC). The two chips are…

64 channel picosecond time resolution instrumentation in 25 milligrams of silicon

The EP-ESE group has finalized the development of a 64 channel picosecond TDC (Time to Digital Converter) ASIC and 20 thousand pieces have been produced. One of the key challenges for future HEP experiments is the development of very high time…

HEP responds to the global chips crisis

Over the past year, semiconductor prices have been surging in Europe as demand increases globally. While this is happening with most products, it's been a larger problem given the role of semiconductors in most electronics, such as consumer…

Medipix3 reaches the clinic

In early October, the CERN Medipix Team (EP-ESE-ME) visited the newly installed Medipix3-based spectroscopic CT scanner at the Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne. The 3D colour X-ray scanner has been developed in New Zealand by MARS…

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