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ATLAS ITk Strip Modules Quality Control and Test Beams

Yu, Xintong LU (2025) FYSM64 20242
Department of Physics
Particle and nuclear physics
Abstract
This thesis presents a comprehensive study of performance characterization and quality control (QC) for the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) silicon strip modules, undertaken in preparation for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) upgrade. The work focuses on two aspects: test beam campaigns and thermal cycles.
During the test beam campaigns at DESY in October and December 2024, unirradiated and irradiated strip modules were exposed to 5 (or 4) GeV electron beams. The operating window (OPW) of each module, defined by regions where detection efficiency exceeds 99% and noise occupancy remains below 0.001, was extracted via data acquisition using EUDAQ2 and track reconstruction with Corryvreckan. Interposed SS modules exhibited... (More)
This thesis presents a comprehensive study of performance characterization and quality control (QC) for the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) silicon strip modules, undertaken in preparation for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) upgrade. The work focuses on two aspects: test beam campaigns and thermal cycles.
During the test beam campaigns at DESY in October and December 2024, unirradiated and irradiated strip modules were exposed to 5 (or 4) GeV electron beams. The operating window (OPW) of each module, defined by regions where detection efficiency exceeds 99% and noise occupancy remains below 0.001, was extracted via data acquisition using EUDAQ2 and track reconstruction with Corryvreckan. Interposed SS modules exhibited significant noise reduction and extended OPWs compared to cold noise SS modules, while improved grounding strategies (incorporating aluminum foil shielding) successfully mitigated left-right noise asymmetries in R3 modules, restoring uniform OPW widths even after irradiation.
Thermal cycle is the last step of the QC process for the ITk strip modules The procedures were performed in custom cold boxes, cycling modules 10 times between -35℃ and +20℃ under bias to emulate thermal stresses resulting from temperature changes during HL-LHC’s operation. Each cycle included IV tests, electrical tests, and high-voltage stability test. In order to visualise the merged thermal cycle data, Python scripts were developed. The distribution of the number of modules regarding the bad channels was also visualised. (Less)
Popular Abstract
Particle physics is the branch of science that studies the smallest building blocks of matter and the forces governing them. Atoms, which make up everything around us, contain protons and neutrons in their nucleus, along with orbiting electrons. However, even protons and neutrons are composed of smaller particles called quarks. Particle physicists use special equipment, like particle colliders, to study these fundamental components of matter.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and most powerful particle collider. The High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) is an upcoming upgrade to the LHC, aiming to produce a much larger number of particle collisions. This increase in collision rates, or “luminosity”, will allow researchers
to... (More)
Particle physics is the branch of science that studies the smallest building blocks of matter and the forces governing them. Atoms, which make up everything around us, contain protons and neutrons in their nucleus, along with orbiting electrons. However, even protons and neutrons are composed of smaller particles called quarks. Particle physicists use special equipment, like particle colliders, to study these fundamental components of matter.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and most powerful particle collider. The High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) is an upcoming upgrade to the LHC, aiming to produce a much larger number of particle collisions. This increase in collision rates, or “luminosity”, will allow researchers
to observe rare particles and interactions, enhancing our understanding of fundamental physics. However, this also means that the detectors around the collision points will be exposed to more radiation and need to handle more data, pushing their technology to its limits.
Detectors are devices that capture information about the particles produced in those collisions. ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) is one of them. The smallest unit of this huge detector is named a “module”. Detector modules need to undergo rigorous testing to ensure they can survive the HL-LHC environment. This thesis focuses on the characterization of the module's performance and quality control. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Yu, Xintong LU
supervisor
organization
course
FYSM64 20242
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
HL-LHC, ATLAS, silicon strip detector, test beam, quality control.
language
English
id
9199753
date added to LUP
2025-06-17 16:01:29
date last changed
2025-06-17 16:01:29
@misc{9199753,
  abstract     = {{This thesis presents a comprehensive study of performance characterization and quality control (QC) for the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) silicon strip modules, undertaken in preparation for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) upgrade. The work focuses on two aspects: test beam campaigns and thermal cycles.
During the test beam campaigns at DESY in October and December 2024, unirradiated and irradiated strip modules were exposed to 5 (or 4) GeV electron beams. The operating window (OPW) of each module, defined by regions where detection efficiency exceeds 99% and noise occupancy remains below 0.001, was extracted via data acquisition using EUDAQ2 and track reconstruction with Corryvreckan. Interposed SS modules exhibited significant noise reduction and extended OPWs compared to cold noise SS modules, while improved grounding strategies (incorporating aluminum foil shielding) successfully mitigated left-right noise asymmetries in R3 modules, restoring uniform OPW widths even after irradiation.
Thermal cycle is the last step of the QC process for the ITk strip modules The procedures were performed in custom cold boxes, cycling modules 10 times between -35℃ and +20℃ under bias to emulate thermal stresses resulting from temperature changes during HL-LHC’s operation. Each cycle included IV tests, electrical tests, and high-voltage stability test. In order to visualise the merged thermal cycle data, Python scripts were developed. The distribution of the number of modules regarding the bad channels was also visualised.}},
  author       = {{Yu, Xintong}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{ATLAS ITk Strip Modules Quality Control and Test Beams}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}