The scientists of the TPU are yet to find out what changes occur inside diamond detectors during the collider work, in order to make them more stable in high capacity conditions.
The European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) has transferred to the Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) a diamond sample. On the basis of such diamonds, detectors are created to capture collisions of elementary particles in the Large Hadron Collider, the university press service reported.
Such unique diamonds are created specifically for CERN in single quantities. Until January 2018, Tomsk scientists will study the sample sent for further modernization. Afterwards the completed diamond detector will be sent to CERN, where it will work for a year. If the results of the research are successful, then in the future, scientists will use their technology to improve the work quality of other diamond detectors at the Large Hadron Collider.
“The detectors that are installed in the Large Hadron Collider now often operate unpredictably; it is not always possible to find the reason for the difference in their performance. Why, for example, out of two detectors created under the same conditions and with similar initial characteristics, one fails soon, while the other one keeps working under the same conditions for many months. The task of the TPU scientists is to find out what changes occur inside such detectors during the LHC work, and then to make them more stable in high capacity conditions, which CERN is planning to transfer the Large Hadron Collider to in the near future”, - the report reads.
Presently the scientists of the Tomsk Polytechnic University are studying the properties of the diamond and working out various physical processes on it. The first observations have already shown that, maybe the diamond detectors at CERN behave differently under the same conditions due to metallization, when a thin layer of metal is applied onto the diamond. To solve this problem, TPU scientists suggested that diamond layers are synthesized on the non-conductive body of the detector, but with boron already doped (embedded) in them.
"In fact, on this diamond, we are growing another diamond with a boron admixture. The diamond coatings are well attached to each other, with the adhesion of their surfaces close to ideal. This eliminates the risk of defects between them and increases the likelihood that during their work, the detector will operate more predictably. After a detailed survey of the sample sent to us, we will apply such a diamond coating onto it and in January 2018 will install a detector based on this diamond at the collider in a special research area, where it will work for a year”, the TPU laboratory engineer, Vitaly Okhotnikov, explains.
Collaboration with CERN
It was earlier reported that over the past two years, TPU has become an active participant in six major CERN collaborations and a member of four major experiments. In particular, the Tomsk Polytechnic University is engaged in the improvement of gas detectors and their introduction into industry within the framework of the RD51 collaboration. Another group of TPU scientists has joined the work of the international scientific collaboration NA 64 on the superproton synchrotron (SPS), which studies light dark matter. Another task of the TPU is to create a scientific and technical base in order to grow advanced diamond detectors that are more resistant to increased capacities, which is CERN is going to shift to in the near future.