Test beams generally sit to the side of full-on accelerators, sipping beam and passing it to the reconfigurable spaces housing temporary experiments. Scientists bring pieces of their detectors — sensors, chips, electronics or other material — and blast them with the well-understood beam to see if things work how they expect, and if their software performs as expected. Before a detector component can head to its forever home, it has to pass the test.
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment is advancing technology commonly used in dark matter experiments—and scaling it up to record-breaking sizes.
For two weeks, 50 students from around the world studied detectors and sensors with Fermilab experts.
The CMS experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider is buzzing with activity. The first year of Run 2 is ending, and as we near the end of 2016, we have our work cut out for us.
A doctoral student and his adviser designed a tabletop particle detector they hope to make accessible to budding young engineering physicists.
Superheated detectors such as bubble chambers offer a unique advantage in dark matter detection, and the PICO collaboration has rejuvenated and augmented the bubble chamber technology.
In her new role, Merkel will coordinate the research and funding for Fermilab’s many and varied detector R&D projects, from tried and true technologies to new, fledgling developments that would not otherwise be investigated.