A visit to CERN (and the impressive electronics R&D center hidden within)
Joe Fjelstad
In October of this year, I had the privilege to visit CERN,
the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
A visit to CERN (and the
impressive electronics R&D
center hidden within)
In October of this year, I had the privilege tronic innovations that have been devel- is required to create the 3D sensor arrays
to visit CERN, the European Organization oped in support of the various experiments that will be required to detect the minute
for Nuclear Research. Located in Geneva, that are supported by the collider. On the signal signatures of the subatomic particles
Switzerland, CERN is home to the largest electrical side, there was the 7600 km of that are emitted as protons and ions are
machine in the world, the 27 kilometer super conducting cable, roughly 1.5 mm collided at speeds that are 99.99% of the
diameter super collider known at the LHC by 15 mm. As small as it is, it is neverthe- speed of light. Fortunately, the CERN
or large hadron collider. From my experi- less capable of carrying more than 50,000 circuit development team is more than up
ences during my two day visit, it became amps of current (for more information on to the task. For example, one detector in
clear to me that CERN it is also a center this impressive development please go to development is comprised of many thin
for innovation in the realm of electrical
http://cern.ch/lhc-machine-outreach/compo- sheets of metalized polyimide each having
and electronic interconnections both large nents). On the electronic side, there were a a few million precision 70 micron holes.
and small. variety of unique interconnections in use The process development effort was lead
The large hadron collider is the basic for the various detectors that are true gems by Rui de Oliveira and CERN is licensing
product of CERN itself. It is comprised of of electronic interconnection design. the technology to interested parties. One
some 9300 very large magnets in a large un- An extremely high degree of creativity area of prospective of use that has been
derground circle operating at -271°C (2°K),
about 2 degrees above absolute zero. While
they had a set back with the failure of a
power interconnection that will delay the
onset of major experimentation, it has not
kept CERN from cementing its place as the
world’s focal point for advanced subatomic
particle research.
My visit was on the day after the inau-
guration of the LHC, which was held on
October 21st 2008. My host was Erik van
der Bij, who heads the circuit manufactur-
ing facility and a very creative electronic
module development team at CERN. He
informed me that the previous day’s event
was attended by a few thousand guests
from around the globe, including heads of
state, various politicians and top scientists
and engineers, including a number of
Nobel laureates. Fortunately, the exhibits
had not yet been dissembled from the
day before, and Erik escorted me through
them, giving me a sense of the complexity,
scope and magnitude of the system and
describing some of the electrical and elec-
A portion of ATLAS. To get a sense of the size, note the walkways in the background. (Photo courtesy CERN.)
4 – Global SMT & Packaging – December 2008
www.globalsmt.net
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