By Mariana Barillas
University researchers are part of an international effort upgrading CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle accelerator, for the next generation of discoveries about the fundamental forces that shape our universe.
In a clean lab in Hannan Hall, particle physics engineer Rhea Khatri is leading a small team in developing an on-campus production line to build silicon-based sensor pixel detector modules. These modules will be tiled together in the new inner tracker that traces the paths of particles upon collision for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), one of two general-purpose experiments at LHC.
“The lab will be building modules that will be used for detecting particles based on their momentum,” said Khatri. “They are designed to withstand higher radiation, higher luminosity, and higher energy levels for the Phase II upgrade of the CMS detector.”
When the first parts for assembly arrived late this summer, Khatri demonstrated to several University physics undergraduate and graduate students how to assemble and conduct initial testing of these critical components. The lab is currently in the midst of preproduction to refine processes, but Khatri is eager to recruit more student support for the high profile project to produce about 1,000 working modules.
