The PRISMA detector laboratory promotes cooperation and the exchange of experience and technology within PRISMA++
It provides laboratories and workspaces to offer scientists with different hardware expertise a shared research environment and infrastructure. As part of this collaboration, the Detector Lab offers access to its own special laboratories, high-quality equipment and design software. The electron and photon beams at MAMI and the irradiation facility at the TRIGA reactor are also available for the examination and characterization of detectors and electronics.
To support the experimental activities in all fields of research, the Detector Lab is divided into four areas:
Electronics
Design of high-speed boards for fast data analysis and digitization, analog signal processing circuits, low-noise and low-power systems, triggerless architectures, and radiation-hard electronics.
Light sensors
Single-photon sensitivity, high detection efficiency, large active areas and/or high granularity, e.g. for use in calorimeters, Cherenkov detectors and astroparticle physics experiments.
Tracking detectors and Time Projection Chambers
For example, for systems with excellent spatial resolution at high intensities, large-area gas detectors, Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on liquefied noble gases, Gas-Electron-Multiplier (GEM) and Micromegas applications.
Laboratory for Scintillation and Fluorescence Detectors (LSFD)
A new infrastructure for the development and characterization of scintillation and fluorescence materials, currently being established within the framework of PRISMA++.
ATLAS
- Construction of drift panels for the upgrade of the muon detector (completed)
- Prototype board of the topological trigger for the calorimeter, with fast multi-FPGA data processing and optical communication
- Feasibility studies for the High Granularity Timing Detector
CALICE
- Characterization of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM)
- Development and testing of high-granularity calorimeter components
- Automated assembly of SiPM readout boards with scintillator tiles (completed)
ICECUBE / ICECUBE-GEN2
- Characterization of photomultipliers (PMT)
- Research and development for the electronics and tests of the Digital Optical Module
MAGIX at the MESA accelerator
- Feasibility studies for focal plane tracking detectors
P2 at the MESA accelerator
- Research and development for the track reconstruction system based on monolithic pixel detectors
XENON1T / XENONnT
- Characterization of the optical properties of the muon veto (completed)
- Measurement and scanning of high-voltage electrode planes
The detector laboratory also provides a location for project-independent, longer-term research and development activities in the field of new, innovative detector technologies. In addition to the regular user meetings, the detector laboratory organizes technical seminars with external speakers to provide an overview of modern technologies and other topics of interest to experimental physicists as well as engineers and technical staff in the cluster of excellence PRISMA++.
The Detector Lab can draw on numerous modern laboratories as well as innovative measuring and test stands. This infrastructure forms the basis for the successful development of new detectors and the construction of complex detector components.
This setup is used for testing and calibrating detector modules using cosmic muons. It consists of an upper and a lower layer of trigger detectors with 2×12 crossed scintillator strips. The test stand is placed in a large (1.8m x 1.3m) ventilated dark box. DAQ and logic modules (e.g. VME-based) are available.
For the construction and automated examination of large-format (~m²) detector modules, a granite table with a nominal planarity 15µm is available. It is equipped with motorized XYZ adjusters, which in turn hold a laser distance sensor and a camera for surface scanning as well as a confocal 3D microscope for in-depth inspection. The entire setup is operated under a laminar flow unit (ISO 5/6).
A processing line is available for assembling printed circuit boards (PCBs). It consists of a stencil printer (top image), a pick and place machine (bottom image) and a vapor phase reflow oven. SMD and through-hole components, which are automatically fed from coils or trays, for example, can be processed in this way. In this way, for example, Eurocards and 6U rack format circuit boards can be produced.
A 3D printer workshop is currently being set up, in which several printers will be available. With the first printer already in operation, components made of fiber-reinforced plastics can be printed up to a volume of 330 mm x 270 mm x 200 mm.
- Electrical workbenches, microscope, thermal imaging camera, function generator, oscilloscopes
- FPGA Development Kits, System-On-Chip and Single-Board-Computer Programming
- Electronic Design Automation and CAD Tools (Cadence, Mentor, Xilinx, Altera, COMSOL)
- Dark laboratory and boxes, optical tables (with lasers, lamps, xyz systems)
- Climate chamber and laminar flow units
- Gas and high-voltage supply, mass spectrometer, radioactive sources
- Vacuum oven and vacuum distillation plant
- Laser engraving device
June 5, 2025 Werner Riegler (CERN), “Precision Timing with Silicon Detectors“, 1 PM | Gernot-Gräff-Room, Staudingerweg 7, Building 2412, Room 05.431 (5th floor – West)
May 15, 2025 Christophe de La Taille (OMEGA Microelectronics Laboratory, IN2P3/CNRS, École Polytechnique, Paliseau), “Readout ASICs for High Granularity Calorimeters and SiPMs“, 1 PM | Gernot-Gräff-Room, Staudingerweg 7, Building 2412, Room 05.431 (5th floor – West)
November 28, 2024 Marius Köppel (ETH Zurich), “Development and Commissioning of the Scintillating Fiber Detector for the Mu3e Experiment“, 2 PM | Noether-Room, Staudingerweg 7, Building 2412, Room 03.423 (3rd floor – West)
May 23, 2024 Larisa Thorne (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), “Neutrinos and how to measure their mass“, 11 AM | MITP-Seminar room, Staudinger Weg 9, Building 2413, Room 02.430 (2nd floor – West)
24. November 2023 Finn Feindt (DESY, Hamburg), “A Digital Silicon Photomultiplier”, 1 PM | Media room, Staudinger Weg 7, Building 2412, Room 03.431 (3rd floor – West)
03. November 2023 Robert Svoboda (University of California, Davis), “The Development Path to a Hybrid Optical Detector“, 1 PM | Media room, Staudinger Weg 7, Building 2412, Room 03.431 (3rd floor – West)
08. December 2022 João Guimarães da Costa (Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences), “The Circular Electron Positron Collider“, 10 AM | Gernot-Gräff Room, Staudinger Weg 7, Building 2412, Room 05.431 (5th floor – West)
21. July 2022 Loredana Gastaldo (Heidelberg University), “Physics and application of metallic magnetic calorimeter“, 2 PM | KPH Seminar room 1, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 45, Building 1371, Room 00.260 (ground floor)
May 03, 2022 Yuan Mei (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab),“CMOS pixel charge sensor development“, 2 p.m. | Media Room, Staudinger Weg 7, Building 2412, Room 03.431 (3rd floor – West)
June 21, 2021 Steffen Schönfelder and Quirin Weitzel (PRISMA Detector Lab, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), “3D-Printing Technologies and Possibilities in the PRISMA Detector Lab”, 12.30 p.m. | ETAP Seminar (virtual meeting)
January 23, 2020 Sebastian Böser (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz),“The novel ABALONE photosensor“, 2 pm | Gernot-Gräff Room, Staudinger Weg 7, Building 2412, Room 05.431 (5th Floor – West)
November 07, 2019 Stefan Ritt (Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen),“WaveDAQ – The new data acquisition standard system at PSI“, 2 pm | MITP Seminar Room, Staudinger Weg 9, Building 2413, Room 02.430 (2nd floor – West)
January 10, 2019 Adrian Rost (TU Darmstadt / GSI),“The TRB3 Read-out Platform – from Calorimeter Read-out to Online Beam Monitoring“
September 03, 2018 Michael Lupberger (CERN),“SRS: A general purpose readout system and one example of application at the NMX instrument for ESS“
May 24, 2018 Alexei N. Safonov (Texas AM University), “GEM Detectors for the Muon System Upgrade of the CMS Experiment at the LHC”
May 11, 2017 Andrea Santangelo (University of Tübingen), “Future missions and instruments for X-ray astrophysics”
09 February 2017 David Rohr (CERN), “Utilization of Hardware Accelerators such as GPUs for Compute-Intense Physics Applications”
July 14, 2016 Ivan Peric (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), “CMOS sensors”
June 16, 2016 Andreas Goehlich (Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS), “CMOS-Integration of Microsystems: Technology and Applications”
February 11, 2016 Horst Exner (Laserinstitut Hochschule Mittweida), “3D Laser micro printing – an additive manufacturing method with highest resolution”
October 29, 2015 Albert Lehmann (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg), “Fast Photon Detection with Microchannel Plate Photomultipliers”
July 16, 2015 Dominique Thers (Subatech, Nantes), “The XEMIS projects: 3-photon medical imaging with liquid xenon”
June 18, 2015 Hans Kristian Soltveit (University of Heidelberg), “Multi-gigabit wireless data transfer using the millimeter wave band at 60 GHz”
May 21, 2015 Carlos Marinas (University of Bonn): “DEPFET pixel sensors for future colliders and imaging applications”
February 5, 2015 Michele Caselle (KIT, Karlsruhe): “High-speed DAQ-systems with real-time data elaboration for scientific experiments”
December 11, 2014 Juliane Raasch (KIT, Karlsruhe): “Versatile terahertz detector technologies and fast readout electronics”
10 July 2014 Stefan Ritt (PSI, Villigen): “Waveform digitizing in the giga-sample range with switched capacitor arrays”
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From the afternoon of Monday 19th to the morning of Wednesday 21st, about 30 early career researchers registered for the workshop attended the PRISMA+ School 2024, organized and taught by Dr. Stefan Schoppmann, Dr. Quirin Weitzel and the members of the PRISMA++ Detector Laboratory. After an introductory lecture on silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and plastic and liquid scintillators, the participants started with hands-on laboratory sessions.
The School addressed master students, Ph.D. students, and postdoctoral researchers aiming to work with particle detectors based on photosensors and FPGAs. It introduced the concepts and technologies including light creation, propagation and detection as well as the associated electronics for signal acquisition.
The School addressed master’s degree students and beginning Ph.D. students aiming to work with particle detectors based on photosensors. It introduced the concepts and technologies including light creation, propagation and detection as well as the associated electronics for signal processing and digitization.
About 30 master’s degree students, Ph.D. students, and postdoctoral researchers in physics aiming to work with data acquisition systems (DAQ) participated in the School. It introduced typical concepts and designs of DAQs and associated electronics enabling the handling of high data rates, preserving relevant signal information, or making smart trigger decisions.
