Periodic Reporting for period 3 - AIDAinnova (Advancement and Innovation for Detectors at Accelerators)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-04-01 al 2025-09-30
The AIDAinnova project united Europe’s leading research infrastructures and academic institutions to advance the next generation of particle-physics detectors, a field engaging more than 10,000 researchers worldwide. The consortium, spanning 15 countries and CERN, built on the successes of AIDA-2020 and supported the European Strategy for Particle Physics. While continuing essential R&D for detectors at the LHC and other facilities, AIDAinnova focused on developing instrumentation for a future high-precision electron–positron collider (“Higgs factory”). It also expanded involvement in neutrino experiments and strengthened collaboration with industry. The project delivered major advances in monolithic and hybrid pixel detectors, calorimeters, gaseous and cryogenic detectors, as well as in advanced electronics, mechanical structures, and dedicated software essential for future experiments. By enhancing coordination across the European detector community, AIDAinnova maximized the impact of EU and national resources and reinforced Europe’s global leadership in particle-physics instrumentation.
From the outset, AIDAinnova established a strong collaborative framework, beginning with an online kick-off meeting attended by more than 300 participants, followed by four annual meetings across Europe to review progress and plan subsequent work. These events facilitated extensive exchanges between scientists, engineers, and industrial partners, fostering innovation and ensuring alignment with the project’s scientific objectives. WP2 developed the project’s communication and dissemination infrastructure, including the website, newsletter, social-media packs, and the CERN Document Server publication workflow, enabling rapid dissemination of results across the broader community. WP2 also facilitated knowledge transfer and networking with other INFRA-INNOV projects such as I.FAST and LEAPS-INNOV, establishing synergies across European R&D initiatives and promoting the uptake of results beyond the immediate particle-physics community.WP3 and WP4 delivered new hardware and software to efficiently collect high-quality data from detectors under test or irradiation. This included modernising DAQ and control systems at RBI, upgrading the SPECTOR system and integrating it with EPICS, and enhancing the IRRAD Data. Manager with generic gamma-spectrometry capabilities and integration with the CAEN DigiWaste platform. Compact TPA-TCT lasers were developed, and a dedicated training school on TCT technologies was held at CERN, providing hands-on education for young researchers. Portable EMC and automatic TF test benches were also completed, enabling precise characterisation of front-end-electronics prototypes. These developments ensured that experimental facilities could deliver reliable, reproducible measurements critical to advancing detector technology.WP5 and WP6 focused on the fabrication, characterisation, and simulation of new detector prototypes. Monolithic devices were produced in two foundries to explore both large- and small-electrode designs. The Allpix Squared Monte-Carlo framework was extended to model the response of LGAD and 3D sensors accurately. Interconnection technologies—including Anisotropic Conductive Film bonding and wafer-to-wafer connections—were optimised, supporting the production of robust, high-performance detector assemblies. WP7 delivered improvements across gaseous-detector technologies: RPCs achieved enhanced performance using low-resistivity glass and environmentally friendly gas mixtures, while MPGD manufacturing processes were successfully transferred and validated with industrial partners. Cluster-counting algorithms for drift chambers were developed for Higgs-factory tracking, and hybrid readout solutions were advanced for high-pressure TPCs in long-baseline neutrino experiments. Simulation tools for single-photon detectors in Ring-Imaging Cherenkov systems were refined, enabling more precise evaluation and optimisation of these devices. WP8 concentrated on calorimetry and particle identification, producing highly granular calorimeters with up to two orders of magnitude more readout cells than existing LHC detectors. Complementary approaches—including pixelised calorimeters, liquid-noble-gas designs, and dual-readout concepts—were developed in parallel. Compact, high-speed electronics and novel materials enabled near-hermetic detector designs with picosecond-level timing resolution, allowing unprecedented measurement precision.WP9 qualified X-ARAPUCA scintillation-light detectors for the ProtoDUNE-II run, doubling efficiency through design improvements. Pixel boards for simultaneous charge and light detection were prototyped and successfully tested. The Vertical Drift task operated the large NP02 ProtoDUNE-Vertical Drift detector stably throughout 2025, including dedicated charged-beam measurements, and completed tests of the large-size chimneys essential for detector integration and environmental control. WP10 advanced innovative mechanical and cooling technologies, achieving the first CO2 boiling-flow circulation in an ultra-light truss structure, conducting mechanical and hydraulic tests on 3D-printed ceramics and aluminium-alloy components, and 3D-printing a micro-hydraulic connector in PEEK. A new test rig for thermal-hydraulic characterisation of supercritical CO2 in small-diameter pipes was defined, and an innovative hybrid refrigeration cycle using supercritical krypton was explored, offering potential breakthroughs in compact, energy-efficient cooling for future detectors.WP11 delivered several ASICs for multi-channel readout of various detectors, including AC-coupled LGAD readout and the LIROC ASIC for SiPMs. The first 16-channel AC-LGAD ASIC was received for characterisation, and a multi-project wafer (D23) was prepared with contributions from multiple partners, ensuring broad access across the consortium to advanced readout technologies.WP12 developed machine-learning models to accelerate and improve detector simulations, supported GPU-based track reconstruction within ACTS, and integrated particle-flow algorithms for the DUNE ND-LAr detector into a turnkey software stack. This work included porting iLCSoft algorithms to Key4hep, enabling flexible, high-performance reconstruction across multiple detector technologies.WP13 competitively selected four exploratory projects, all of which demonstrated highly innovative results and delivered transformative R&D.
By the end of AIDAinnova, many detector technologies had reached a high level of maturity, advancing beyond the state of the art and positioning Europe at the forefront of global detector development. The technologies developed—including advanced sensors, fast readout electronics, precision calibration tools, and sophisticated software—have potential applications well beyond particle physics, ranging from medical imaging and radiation therapy to homeland security, environmental monitoring, and space instrumentation.The project thus not only strengthens European leadership in high-energy physics but also contributes to broader technological innovation, economic competitiveness, and significant societal benefits.