Development and large-scale production of ceramic PCBs for the preshower detector of the CMS experiment

Fabrication of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in high-radiation areas requires new technologies. The CMS detector in the CERN Large Hadron Collider will have portions in high-radiation environment. The preshower detector in front of the endcap electromagnetic calorimeter is such an area. During the past several years, the emphasis has been put on the research and development of individual components of the preshower detector. Several prototypes of PCBs were manufactured on ceramic substrates. The final prototype was a high-quality product with the ceramic board meeting all specifications, including the adherence of metallic pastes, the resistivity of the metallic lines and the precision of the laser cutting. The Yerevan Physics Institute in collaboration with the MARS Factory, Rubin L. Tech. JSC and Yerevan Telecommunication Research Institute made 4.500 units of the ceramics PCBs and are now being incorporated in the preshower detector. This article describes in detail the R&D for the technology of thick film printing on a ceramic substrate with different pastes and the precise cutting of ceramic plates by a laser.