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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SENSE (SENSE - a roadmap for the ideal low light level sensor development)

Teaser

Summary

SENSE is a Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action aiming to coordinate research and development efforts in academia and industry in low light-level sensoring.

A coordination of European research groups concerned with low light-level sensors is currently missing. By formulating a roadmap incorporating all R&D activities necessary for the development of the ultimate low light-level sensors, the R&D efforts of European research groups, industry, and strategic partners worldwide will be efficiently aligned. This coordination shall reduce the redundancy of the efforts. The competition between groups shall be stimulated in those cases where developments can be made faster.
==> Different actors from industry and science were brought together during the TechForum.

The project aims at joining forces of European experts in developing the ultimate low light-level sensors and taking the leadership in these R&D activities. Following new and emerging technologies in detecting minimal quantities of light (single photons) is a challenge. However, the close cooperation between industry and academia in several research disciplines is defining an ideal partnership for developing substantially improved low light-level sensors that find immediate application in research projects and in commercial products.
==> An experts group was set up and together with these experts a European roadmap towards the ultimate LLL sensor was established.

Given that many applications are in medical diagnostic instrumentation, the substantial improvement in low light-level sensor technology will have a clear positive societal impact when radiation doses for patients can be significantly reduced. The innovation potential is enormous when it comes to a replacement of PMTs by the new SiPM technology. PET scanners could then be integrated in MRIs and allow studying structure and functional activity in vivo, which is important for cancer research, Alzheimer studies as well as drug tests. With current state-of-the-art technology such a combined diagnostic cannot be realized. Miniaturization and cheaper mass production of low light-level sensors will definitely lead to a wealth of innovative products on the long-term.
==> The Roadmap describes the R&D activities and recommendations that the SENSE project has defined for realizing the ultimate low light-level (LLL) sensor(s).

SENSE aims at attracting and supporting young researchers to get involved in forefront technology developments. This shall be realized by well-defined technology sessions at diverse summer schools. Videos, podcasts, tutorials, FAQs and other training material shall be disseminated via the internet exchange platform developed during the project.
==> An education & outreach section on the SENSE Website allows to get informed on different levels and with different formats on photosensor technologies. The SENSE Detector School in 2019, which aimed to inform about the forefront developments on low light-level detectors, brought together students and experts and attracted young researchers from Europe and other countries.

Altogether, SENSE is well embedded and linked to all other relevant initiatives and the affiliation to APPEC shall ensure that all stakeholders from academia and industry participate in the project.

Work performed

The SENSE TechForum on photosensors and associated electronics took place in Geneva at the School of Physics on June 21-22, 2018. Around 90 participants gathered to engage in the discussion of the latest developments in the field. On the first day a set of review talks provided an overview of the main developments and challenges to produce the ultimate low light-level sensor. The focus was on SiPMs for different applications, including High Energy Physics, Astrophysics, Medical, Ranging and Quantum Computing.

The members of the Experts Group were chosen from different fields to cover as many areas of the photosensor community as possible. Furthermore a mixture of men and women, young and senior scientists and experts from different countries were selected. The group was extended during the project and finally 17 experts agreed to join. Some of them are introduced here Regular meetings and discussions were led by Razmik Mirzoyan and Derek Strom and the result is written down in the SENSE roadmap. A link to other initiatives was established and used for mutual interaction.

This Roadmap represents not only a significant milestone, but also a benchmark for the future development of the ultimate low light-level sensor. While the creation of this plan required significant effort and commitment from many entities, it is only the beginning. Much work lies ahead to implement the strategies and recommendations laid out in this document. Coordination and collaboration among SENSE partners, academia and industrial partners will be essential to moving the R&D forward. The strategies and recommendations outlined in this Roadmap will require immediate attention to ensure their ultimate success. If everything comes together in support of this plan, and its key elements are implemented, SENSE is confident the dream of an ultimate LLL sensor will become a reality.

In June 2019 Ringberg Castle was hosting a group of 32 PhD and master students for the SENSE Detector School. As part of the SENSE program this school was newly designed to train young researchers on photosensors and their application in science projects and in innovative commercial products. Other teaching elements (theory and hands on training) were developed during SENSE. A training and learning part was included to the SENSE website.

Final results

The intense relation between the working group of Prof. T. Montaruli at the University of Geneva and at CERN, Dr. R. Mirzoyan at MPG, Dr. A. Haungs at KIT and K. Henjes-Kunst at DESY will further support disseminating the project results with the clear goal of stimulating new and innovative applications.

One application came up as side effect of WP 2 work of first year - the idea of a LEGO brick like assembly of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) devices with interfaced readout electronics for various applications in science and medical diagnostics and the implementation, testing and further development of this LEGO brick design as photon detection module for intra-operative beta probe. The project ProTus, which was applied for a FET Launchpad call, proposes a new beta probe for radio-guided surgery (RGS) treatment of tumors, a technique based on the use of a radiation detection system for intra-operative detection of tumors via radio-pharmaceutical tracer. The imaging capability has the potential for minimizing the surgical invasiveness and improving the quality of the patient life after the intervention while ensuring the complete removal of the tumor tissue.

The project aims at joining forces of European experts in developing the ultimate low light-level sensors and taking the leadership in these R&D activities. However, the close cooperation between industry and academia in several research disciplines is defining an ideal partnership for developing substantially improved low light-level sensors that find immediate application in research projects and in commercial products.