Signal formation and active edge studies of 3D silicon detector technology

3D detectors and devices with an 'active edge' were fabricated at the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility. Characteristics such as time response and edge sensitivity were studied. The induced signals from a 3D detector were studied using a fast, low-noise transimpedance amplifier. The rise time of the output signal obtained for a minimum ionising particle was faster than 4 ns at room temperature and 2 ns at 130K. This is in agreement with earlier calculations of 3D detectors that predicted the charge collection time to be between one to two ns. The first understanding of signal formation in a 3D detector was achieved by comparing measurements with a full system simulation. The differences in collection behaviour between electrons and holes were also understood and verified by measurement. Edge sensitivity was measured at the CERN SPS, using a high energy muon beam and a silicon telescope. The detector was measured to be efficient up to less than 4 μm from its physical edge. This confirmed that active edge technology can be used in the proton detectors for the TOTEM experiment, which requires the detectors to have a dead region of less than 50 μm. Results in this thesis also confirm the suitability of this design for possible future upgrades of the Large Hadron Collider, where the integrated fluence is expected to increase by a factor of 10.