Introduction
The Groupe Technologique (GT) is an electronics workshop that supports scientific research at U. de Montréal, in Canada and the world. It has lots of experience designing custom electronic modules, data-acquisition systems and mechanical aspects of an experiment. It has a strong expertise in firmware and software coding.
People and Expertise
- Jean-Pierre Martin (head of GT, PhD Physics):
- High-speed/low noise analogue electronics (applied to various types of detectors/sensors). Digital electronics with FPGA devices. Firmware designs (Xilinx and Intel-Altera devices). Embedded Trigger/DAQ systems design (Xilinx Vivado/Vitis and Altera Quartus platforms)
- Nikolai Starinsky (Physicist, PhD Engineering-Physics):
Particle detector design, building and testing. Detector/sensor front-end design and integration, in-house PCB production. Autodesk Inventor, Spice simulation, Altium Designer, Altera Quartus. Microcontroller systems, particle detector high-voltage systems.
- Chen Wen Chao (Physicist, PhD Physics):
- Software development, Linux systems, Slow DAQ systems, Firmware and Embedded processors in FPGA.
- Cyril Drancourt (Electronics Engineer, MSc Engineering):
- Electronic system design, CAD design, LabVIEW design, VHDL design. Tests and on-site installation.
- Hongfei Cao (Technician, MSc Engineering):
- Electronics layout with Altium Designer, manual soldering, prototype assembly
Equipment
The GT is equipped with various workstations with the software needed for the design of electronic modules associated with detector readout. The GT possesses specialized equipment to instrument and test detectors, such as semi-clean assembly areas, trigger systems (cosmics, lasers), power supplies, source/detector positioning devices using X-Y tables, and dedicated readout and diagnostic instrumentation. The GT also uses instruments and tools for the construction and debugging of prototypes of fine pitch and high component density that use surface mount technology.
Examples of current/recent projects
- ATLAS ITk Tracker Upgrade: The GT is responsible for the overall design and the construction of several modules of the interlock system of the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) upgrade. The GT is also involved in testing the ITk front-end electronics and in the ITk grounding and shielding group.
- Beam monitoring for the BELLE-II experiment: The GT co-designed and installed LYSO scintillator detectors to monitor the SuperKEKB beams after injection in the main ring. The GT was responsible to build and design a custom electronics module to read out these detectors, including the high-voltage power supplies and an FPGA-based data acquisition system.
- DUNE Experiment: The GT is involved in developing the firmware of the timing of the DUNE experiment, as well as developing the software of the DUNE Data-Filter system.
- Computed tomography (CT) scan development: The GT supports a local research program on the emerging applications of spectral computed tomography (CT) through its software expertise.
- Electronic nanobiosensors: The GT has developed low-noise amplifiers for arrays of field-effect transistor (FET) sensors based on carbon nanomaterials to be used for the measurement of bioanalytics & biochemical mechanisms at the molecular level.
- PICO experiment: The GT is involved in several aspects of the PICO dark matter experiment, such as its monitoring software.
- Project X17 aims to verify the the so-called X-17 anomaly. The GT has designed and built the wire chamber electronics, preamp boards, mechanical structure and beam setup of the experiment.
Cost
To understand how charges applies, please look at the table below. It will depend on the client affiliation and what type of work is required. Components can be provided by the client or by the GT.
| Client | Components | Consumable | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UdeM Physics | Market price | Market price | Free | ||
| LAT MRS co-applicantsCanadian subatomic researcher | Market price | Market price | Free | ||
| Academic |
| ||||
| Industry | Contract (Contact us) | ||||
Contact
The GT is located in the Laboratoire René J.-A. Lévesque on the main campus of Université de Montréal. The address is
- 2905 chemin des Services
- Laboratoire René J.-A. Lévesque, local 109
- Montréal, Qc
- H3T 1J4
You can join our team by phone 514-343-6111 #7340 or by e-mail at lta@phys.umontreal.ca