A novel fast and accurate thermal design method for detector arrays

Abstract

The thermal design of detectors can effectively reduce problems caused by high-power consumption, such as shortened detector life, accuracy reduction, and chip damage. However, the traditional numerical model for the thermal design of detector arrays is difficult to construct and solve accurately, requiring a complex model structure, massive grid division, and considerable computation. In this study, a novel thermal design method, called the unit–array equivalent method (UAEM), is proposed for the thermal design of detector arrays consisting of multiple complex repetitive detector units. The method can simplify the detector unit structure in an array by using an equivalent approach for ensuring model accuracy. The effectiveness of the method is verified through numerical experiments on heat conductivity, surface gas, and surface radiation. Meanwhile, this method is used to study the ALICE Inner Tracking System, and the equivalence and correlation of UAEM are examined. Compared with the model constructed by traditional methods, this method saves 95% of the calculation time. At the same time, the average error between the equivalent model and the experiment is within 0.35 °C. This method solves the contradiction between model accuracy and computation. Thus, an accurate and fast numerical approach for the thermal analysis of detector arrays is provided.

Keywords

• Detector array
• Detector unit
• Thermal design
• Unit–array equivalent method (UAEM)