Direct Write Fabrication of Low Cost Flexible Particle Detector Substrates

High energy physics research has motivated the development of high-performance detectors to enable advances in experimentation. Many detectors are often large area, flexible panels capable of resolving particle/photon location with mm resolution. The specific requirements of a given experimental setup will dictate the unique configuration of the readout layer. Given the wide range of high energy physics experiments that are performed in this scientific field, unfortunately, there are no standardized configurations for the readout layer; meaning that each experiment requires a custom design and fabrication effort of the detection components. Conventionally, the readout layers have been fabricated using photolithography to define the pattern of the conductive features on metal-laminated dielectric sheets, followed by chemical etching to remove the undesired portions of the metal layer, leaving only the desired conductive features (strips, pads, interconnects, etc.). Photolithography is a batch process, and requires the production of photomasks for each pattern, and the chemical etching produces a large degree of undesirable chemical waste. Triton will develop and test a novel low-cost approach for rapid production of flexible particle detector substrates for use by the experimental physics research community. Specifically, the developed technology will be a highly versatile method for producing PCB readout layers containing large area arrays of detector strips, interconnects, vias, and contact pads. Beyond the production of read-out layers, the technology developed will enable versatile additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping, for a variety of applications requiring flexible and printed electronics. The Phase I work will entail designing and producing flexible readout panels using only direct-write techniques, e.g. using lasers machining and printing of conductive materials to form all components of the readout board collector strips, interconnects, contact pads, etc. The readout boards will be subsequently tested in particle detector experiments, and their performance will be benchmarked against readout boards fabricated with traditional methods.