Silicon sensors are the go-to technology for high-precision sensors in particle physics. But only recently low-noise silicon sensors with internal amplification became available. The so-called Low Gain Avalanche Detector (LGAD) sensors have been developed for applications in High Energy Physics, but lack two characteristics needed for the measurement of low-energy protons (<60 keV): a thin entrance window (in the order of tens of nm) and the efficient amplification of signals created near the sensor's surface (in a depth below 1 um). In this paper we present the so-called proton Low Gain Avalanche Detector (pLGAD) sensor concept and some results from characterization of the first prototypes of the sensor. The pLGAD is specifically designed to detect low-energy protons, and other low-penetrating particles. It will have a higher detection efficiency than non-silicon technologies, and promises to be a lot cheaper and easier to operate than competing silicon technologies.
@article{arxiv.2207.06047,
title = {First Results for the pLGAD Sensor for Low-Penetrating Particles},
author = {Waleed Khalid and Manfred Valentan and Albert Doblas and David Flores and Salvador Hidalgo and Gertrud Konrad and Johann Marton and Neil Moffat and Daniel Moser and Sebastian Onder and Giulio Pellegrini and Jairo Villegas},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2207.06047},
year = {2022}
}