Page 28 - EUREKA! Fall 2017

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and look for everything in as many have to be 100 per cent reliable and
different ways as possible.” have to be assembled in a reasonable
“We know there are a lot of things amount of time.”
we don’t understand about the Moreover, electronics students
universe,” says Koffas, “so we have to could be called upon to help refine the
keep on looking.” signal processing and data collection
techniques, and Tait sees the potential
Canada’s and Carleton’s focus for the for further cross-pollination. “Anytime
ATLAS-ITk project revolves around you develop a capacity to do different
20,000 silicon strip modules that things, new applications are likely
will have to be built between 2019 to appear,” he says. “I could imagine
and 2023. These modules consist of perhaps looking at applications in
sensors, circuit boards and readout security — a similar detector could be
chips, and allow the inner tracker used to monitor radiation. A similar
to record the positions of charged technology might be applied.”
particles with extremely precise “This technology is new for
accuracy. Between 1,000 and 2,000 everyone,” adds Koffas, “and it has
sensors will be tested at Carleton and applications in aerospace, medical
then distributed across the assembly physics, nuclear physics and other
sites — the university will be the North fields. If the chips can survive at the
American entry point for sensors. LHC, they will survive at a nuclear
In the meantime, Carleton facility. It’s so complex, how the
physicists are already collaborating electronics are being designed, how
with colleagues in the university’s they will gather the particle physics
Department of Electronics on the data. Because of this complexity, there
design and production of silicon strip are applications to big data, Internet
modules. Carleton’s MicroFabrication banking. When you do a physics
Facility, a cleanroom lab in the Minto experiment of this magnitude, you can Photo:
Centre for Advanced Studies in branch out in so many directions.
Engineering, will be used to probe the “We’ve never done anything with
sensors and conduct research on their them before research-wise,” Koffas detector, and will manage hundreds of and oil and gas industries as just two by Koffas, is on the hardware side — to understanding all these interactions.”
effectiveness. The facility, which has says about the interdisciplinary megabits of data on the way toward examples. “Working on these types helping to test sensors before they go Carleton students participating
been operating since the late 1960s, partnership with his electronics further processing. of projects can really help Canadian into the silicon strip modules. in the project are also learning how
has decades of accumulated expertise colleagues. “Once we learn how we DA-Integrated will assemble and companies broaden skillsets, which “Because it’s such a large project, to collaborate internationally and
on developing, assembling and testing can work together, we will see if there test tens of thousands of circuits for we need to compete in international there are many levels of quality partner with industry, and how to
semi-conductors and other electronic are other common areas of interest. ATLAS over the next few years, and markets.” assurance and these preemptive tests work with people at other Carleton
devices. It has a long relationship with This project could be a trailblazer.” Alex Edwards, the company’s director Projects such as ATLAS-ITk also are extremely important,” says Hunter. departments. “Students will be able
medical physics researchers at Carleton, of business development, is already provide educational opportunities for “Personally, I like the hands-on work to see how a detector is built, which
says Department of Electronics chair Carleton’s ATLAS-ITk team is thinking beyond this project to its students like second-year Carleton — to be able to physically test these is not something that happens every
Niall Tait, and is only starting to work also collaborating with Canadian broader implications. master’s student, Robert Hunter, who devices in the lab, to hook them up to day,” says Koffas. “When you try to
with particle physicists. companies such as Ottawa-based “The advanced micro-electronics will be continuing with this work for the equipment, develop the software, teach someone how to become a
“Most of the detector design has DA-Integrated, which designs, that are being developed and used his PhD. Hunter spent about a month and see if they’re doing what they’re blacksmith, it’s one thing to show them
been done, so to a large extent this will develops and tests integrated circuits. for this system, and the advanced and a half at CERN in the summer of supposed to be doing. These projects a PowerPoint and something else to
be an assembly activity,” says Tait. “But Integrated circuits will read the low- manufacturing techniques, are in so 2016, which gave him a sense of what require a carefully measured synergy give them a hammer and an anvil.
there are research aspects — these level electronic signals from hundreds many products we use as consumers,” this complex multi-faceted project is of widely variant, technical fields and a That’s what we’re doing.”
devices have a fair number of parts, of sensors at the core of the ATLAS he says, citing the telecommunications working toward. His role, supervised robust experimental test setup is integral

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