[en] A new kind of double-sided AC-coupled silicon microstrips detectors has been developed. Ohmic separation is obtained by means of a field shaping. Experimental measurements as well as device simulations show the effectiveness of this insulation scheme. A 50 microns pitch prototype has been tested in a high-energy beam. A telescope of single-sided AC-coupled silicon microstrips detectors has been used for the precise spatial reconstruction of tracks. Spatial resolution on both sides of the double-sided microstrips detector is about 10 microns. A Monte Carlo simulation based on a charge division model in microstrip detectors has been developed. It reproduces the beam test results, and allows to predict the performances of single-, as well as double-sided, microstrips detectors. Following these results, the DELPHI collaboration at LEP is going to install two layers of these new double-sided microstrips detectors, in order to get a very precise spatial reconstruction of charged particle tracks, produced by high-energy electron-positron collisions

[en] The spatial resolution of silicon microstrip detectors is studied as a function of the main detector parameters and of the track angle. Several algorithms for finding the position of particle bits are presented and analysed. Analytic expressions of the spatial resolution are derived for the main algorithms. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, the spatial resolution is calculated for each algorithm and, for each detector design and track geometry, the algorithm that gives the best resolution is determined. (orig.)

[en] The use of monolithic active pixels (MAPS) has quickly spread in a number of scientific fields ranging from imaging to high-energy particle physics applications. The success of MAPS is due to a number of reasons, for example their low power consumption, fast readout, high spatial resolution and low cost. The latter reflects the use of standard CMOS processes for fabrication. In this paper, the performance of MAPS designed in 0.25 μm technology will be modelled by means of TCAD device simulation software. The dependence of the device performance on parameters that affect the detection of minimum ionising particles (MIP) will be studied aiming at the optimisation of the detector performance. More specifically, the simulations will focus on the influence of the epitaxial layer thickness on the amount of collected charge, that defines the signal and the cluster size, that affects the spatial resolution

[en] Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) are widely used in consumer imaging applications. They owe their success to the inherent features of the CMOS process they are fabricated with i.e. low cost, simplicity, and low power consumption, which allows the design of high resolution detectors with integrated signal processing and data reduction. However, the signal collection time is dominated by diffusion and is relatively slow. The aim of this paper is the analysis and simulation of a novel MAPS structure that can improve the performances in terms of speed of charge collection and hence radiation tolerance

[en] The physical and technical motivations and the working principles of a Capacitative Displacements Measuring System (CDMS) for the Delphi Microvertex Detector are presented. The desing, based on a Monte Carlo simulation, is illustred. Experimental tests, performed both in laboratory and during a test beam, show the system should be able to monitor the displacement of the detector in space within a few microns accuracy

[en] This paper reviews the development of CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) for future vertex detectors. MAPS are developed in a standard CMOS technology. In the imaging field, where the technology found its first applications, they are also known as CMOS Image Sensors. The use of MAPS as a detector for particle physics was first proposed at the end of 1999. Since then, their good performance in terms of spatial resolution, efficiency, radiation hardness have been demonstrated and work is now well under way to deliver the first MAPS-based vertex detectors

[en] Invented in the early 1990s on both sides of the Atlantic, Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) in a CMOS technology are today the most sold solid-state imaging device, overtaking the traditional technology of Charge-Coupled Devices (CCD). The slow uptake of CMOS MAPS started from low-end applications, like for example web cams and is slowly pervading the high-end applications, like for example in prosumer digital cameras. Higher specifications are required for scientific applications: very low noise, high speed, high dynamic range, large format and radiation hardness are some of these requirements. This paper will briefly review the main results on radiation hardness for monolithic active pixel sensors

[en] A preliminary study of the charge collection in the recently proposed Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor devices for minimum ionising particles tracking is presented. The baseline pixel architecture is similar to a visible light CMOS camera, emerged as a competitor to widespread CCDs. Free electrons created by an impinging particle are collected by a photodiode from a thin partially depleted epitaxial silicon layer allowing 100% of fill-factor. Such a structure is fabricated using standard CMOS process. The sensor and associated readout electronics are integrated onto the same wafer, resulting in a low cost, high resolution and possibly thin detector. The crucial points of a CMOS detector are the time and the efficiency of the charge collection. These factors, in spite of undeniable advantages of CMOS detectors, can limit their performances. The detailed 3-D simulations using commercially available ISE-TCAD package are carried out in order to study a charge collection process. Although it is dominated by thermal diffusion, more than 1000 electrons are collected in the 3x3 pixels cluster within a time of 100 ns in a 15 μm thick epitaxial layer. Simulation results are compared to measurements performed on the prototype APS CMOS MIMOSA using either a fast Infrared (IR) laser or a high-energy particle beam as an excitation source

[en] In this paper we review neutron detector types available for neutron scattering and demonstrate the need for highly pixellated 'space-time' neutron detectors. We then indicate how they might be produced using silicon active pixel sensors

[en] In order to achieve the readout of silicon detectors required for high rate applications in particle physics, nuclear physics, and X-β imaging, charge amplifiers are widely used to sense the charges collected on the detector plate and to convert the charge signal to the voltage signal. In this paper, a new design of low noise, low-power consumption charge amplifier is described. Theoretical results show that a total output noise voltage reduction of 0.264 mV has been obtained. This value corresponds to a 46% reduction compared to the noise performance of a conventional charge amplifier. A complete readout system including the proposed charge amplifier has been realized in a 0.8-microm semiconductor on insulator (SOI) bipolar complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (BiCMOS) process. A measured noise performance of 450 electrons at 0 pF with a slope of 44 electrons/pF for a shaping time of 45 ns, a conversion gain of 20 mV/fC and 1-mW power consumption have been obtained