Space Compliant LGAD Sensors

Over the course of the last century, physics has made significant advances in its understanding of the fundamental principles of our world. These advances have been driven, in large part, by the discovery of a multitude of elementary particles that constitute the known universe. The technological capabilities to detect and measure the properties of these particles have played a crucial role in this progress. The charge, the energy, and the track are among the many properties that modern particle experiments measure, thanks to dedicated systems, called trackers. Typical trackers are constituted by silicon-based detectors. Low Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGADs) are silicon sensors that feature internal charge gain, and, in recent years, they have been in the spotlight due to their timing performances and intrinsic radiation hardness. An extensive research and development plan made the LGADs of the main technologies adopted by the collider experiments at CERN to improve their trackers in the next upgrades. The astro-particle physics community got interested in the LGADs too, aiming to exploit their timing capabilities in space-borne observatories. Joint efforts allowed Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) to produce the first LGADs dedicated to space applications for a compliance study. The challenge is to maintain the timing performances of the detectors while meeting the requirements imposed on silicon detectors in space. A comprehensive characterization was carried out to measure the performance of the detectors. The results were used to tune a subsequent production of LGADs which was designed, produced, and characterized under the scope of this research. The design process, the investigation techniques, and the outcomes of the characterization are rightly presented.