Department of Physics and Physical
Oceanography Colloquium
Summer Fellowship Seminars
"Silicon Photomultiplier Production Analysis
at Jefferson Lab”
Ben St. Laurent
Jefferson Lab (Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility) is a particle accelerator run by the
Department of Energy. The facility consists of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility and
the Free-Electron Laser. The lab is currently undergoing upgrades to double the energy of the electrons
to 12 GeV. A new experimental hall (Hall D) is also under construction that will be able to search for
new type of particles which made out of Gluons and test fundamental symmetries in the nature through
high-energy photo-productions. One of the detectors under development in Hall D, called Barrel
calorimeter, needs several thousand Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). These are chips that can detect a
single photon. A group at Jefferson lab is responsible for testing 1200 of the SiPMs to ensure that each
one works properly and meets strict specifications. The remaining SiPMs are tested primarily by a team
in Chile, with a few hundred sent to Athens, Greece. All of the data collected from testing is then
reviewed and analyzed. The final results will be vital to conducting successful experiments upon the
completion of the upgrade.
Friday, November 2, 2012
2:00 PM
DeLoach Hall, Room 212