LTCC Strip Electrode Arrays for Gas Electron Multiplier Detectors

Sensors (Basel). 2022 Jan 14;22(2):623. doi: 10.3390/s22020623.

Abstract

The Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) technology has proven to be highly suitable for 3D microstructures manufacturing in electronic devices due to its excellent electrical and mechanical properties. In this paper, a novel idea of implementing the LTCC structures into high-energy particle detectors technology is proposed. It can be applied in High Energy Physics (HEP) laboratories, where such sophisticated sensors are constantly exposed to particles of the TeV energy range for many years. The most advanced applications of the concept are based on dedicated gas amplifier systems coupled with readout microstructures. Typically, the readout microstructures are made in the Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) technology and processed in a sophisticated and patent-protected way. This article presents the manufacturing process and parameters of the novel microstructures made in the LTCC technology. The structures were implemented into the high-energy particle detector, and the first results are presented.

Keywords: Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector; Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics (LTCC); Micro Pattern Gas Detector (MPGD); X-ray; solar radiation; space sensors.