The origins
The Padova GRIT group ha been established in the ’90s by prof. Dario Bisello of Padova University to support the development of the silicon microstrip sensors constituting the tracker of the CMS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). A pioneering effort at the time, the CMS tracker has been the first fully-monolithic tracking system employed in High Energy Physics.
The extreme radiation conditions at which the LHC experiments operate mandated for extensive R&D in material properties and electronic design to ensure the detectors survival through the whole experiment lifetime.
Experimental activities
The SIRAD radiation hardness facility
The necessity for testing devices against the high radiation doses found the the LHC experiments, far higher than those found in the harshest space environment, led the group to create the state-of-the-art SIRAD beamline facility at the Legnaro National Laboratory. The SIRAD beamline allows testing materials and electronic devices with heavy ions on a wide range of energies.
To extend the capability of the SIRAD beamline, the group developed an Ion Emission Electron Microscope (IEEM)
to micro-map the effect of single particles hits on an electronic device (SEE mapping).
Contribution to major experiments
Padova GRIT collaborated with several major experiments and R&D efforts, especially but not limited to the field of High Energy Physics, to assess and qualify the radiation response of various electronic devices and detector meant to operate in hostile radiation environments, from space missions to underground experiments.
The CMS experiment:
- Beamline: TID effects on CMS muon barrel detector Electronics, bulk damage on SiPM for the CMS HCAL upgrade and SEE on RPCs (Resistive Plate Chamber) Front-End Board for the CMS Muon System at HL-LHC
ssds - X-ray: TID on vertical Power MOS-FET
The LHCb experiment:
- Beamline: Radiation hardness tests and qualification for SEE of the read‐out electronics chain for the Upgrade of the LHCb RICH detectors at CERN.
- X-ray: Radiation hardness tests and qualification for TID of the read‐out electronics chain for the Upgrade of the LHCb RICH detectors at CERN.
The ALICE experiment:
- Beamline: Study of proton-induced bulk damage on the prototype pixel and SEU tests of the GBLD laser driver for sensors for the ALICE ITS upgrade.
The ChiPix65 development:
- Beamline: Study of Single Event Effect (SEE) on pixel readout integrated circuits in 65nm for HL-LHC upgrade.
- CN: study of Total Ionizing Dose (TID) effects at high dose (1 Grad) and high dose rates on pixel readout integrated circuits in 65nm for HL-LHC upgrade.
- X-ray: study of TID effects at high dose (1 Grad) and low dose rates on pixel readout integrated circuits in 65nm for HL-LHC upgrade.
The ScalTECH 28 development:
- Tandem: Study of Single Event Effects (SEE) on a flip flop based shift register in a 28nm High-K CMOS technology for future HEP experiments.
- X-ray: TID studies at high doses (1 Grad) on a 28nm High-K CMOS technology.
The PANDA experiment:
- Tandem: Single Event Upsets (SEU) in the ToPix4 ASIC for the pixel detector readout of the PANDA experiment
- X-ray: TID tests in the ToPix4 ASIC for the pixel detector readout of the PANDA experiment