A novel ultra-thin 3D detector—For plasma diagnostics at JET and ITER tokamaks

A novel ultra-thin silicon detector called U3DTHIN has been designed and built for applications that range from Neutral Particle Analyzers (NPA) used in Corpuscular Diagnostics of High Temperature Plasma to very low X-ray spectroscopy. The main purpose of this detector is to provide a state-of-the-art solution to upgrade the current detector system of the NPAs at JET and also to pave the road for the future detection systems of the ITER experimental reactor. Currently the NPAs use a very thin scintillator-photomultiplier tube [F. García, S.S. Kozlovsky, D.V. Balin, Background Properties of CEM, MCP and PMT detectors at n-γ irradiation. Preprint PNPI-2392, Gatchina, 2000, p. 9 [1]; F. García, S.S. Kozlovsky, V.V. Ianovsky, Scintillation Detectors with Low Sensitivity to n-γ Background. Preprint PNPI-2391, Gatchina, 2000, p. 8 [2]], and their main drawbacks are poor energy resolution, intrinsic scintillator nonlinearity, and relative low count rate capability and finally poor signal-to-background discrimination for the low-energy channels. The proposed new U3DTHIN detector is based on very thin sensitive substrate, which will provide nearly 100% detection efficiency for ions and at the same time very low sensitivity for neutron and gamma backgrounds. To achieve a very fast collection of the charge carriers generated by the incident ions, a 3D electrode structure [S. Parker, C. Kenney, J. Segal, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 395 (1997) 328 [3]; G. Pellegrini, P. Roy, A. Al-Ajili, R. Bates, L. Haddad, M. Horn, K. Mathieson, J. Melone, V. OʹShea, K.M. Smith, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 487 (2002) 19 [4]] has been introduced in the sensitive volume of the detector. The geometry of the electrode is known to be rad-hard. One of the most innovative features of these detectors is the optimal combination of the thin entrance window and the sensitive substrate thickness, which allows a very large dynamic range for ion detection. GEANT4 simulations were performed to find the losses of energy in the oxide entrance window and the energy deposition in the silicon substrate for different types of ions; results from these simulations and the process used to fabricate the U3DTHIN at the Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica in Barcelona are presented.