A Beam Profile Monitor for High Energy Proton Beams Using Microfabrication Techniques

In High Energy Physics experiments it is a common practice to expose electronic components and systems to particle beams, in order to assess their level of radiation tolerance when operating in a radiation environment. One of the facilities used for such tests is the Proton Irradiation Facility (IRRAD) at CERN. In order to properly control the 24 GeV/c proton beam, Beam Profile Monitor (BPM) devices are used. The current BPMs are fabricated as standard flexible PCBs featuring a matrix of metallic sensing pads. When exposed to the beam, secondary electrons are emitted from each pad, thus generating a charge proportional to the particle flux. The charge is measured individually for each pad using a dedicated readout system, and so the beam shape, position and intensity are obtained. The beam profile determination with this technique requires thus the usage of non-invasive and radiation tolerant sensing elements. This study proposes a new fabrication method using microfabrication techniques in order to improve the BPMs performance while greatly reducing the device thickness, thus making them also appropriate for the monitoring of lower energy and intensity particle beams.