Ultra-fast silicon detectors

We propose to develop a fast, thin silicon sensor with gain capable to concurrently measure with high precision the space (similar to 10 mu m) and time (similar to 10 ps) coordinates of a particle. This will open up new application of silicon detector systems in many fields. Our analysis of detector properties indicates that it is possible to improve the timing characteristics of silicon-based tracking sensors, which already have sufficient position resolution, to achieve four-dimensional high-precision measurements. The basic sensor characteristics and the expected performance are listed, the wide held of applications are mentioned and the required R&D topics are discussed. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.