Particle detector

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In experimental particle physics, a particle detector, also known as a radiation detector, is a device used to track and identify high-energy particles, such as produced by nuclear decay, cosmic radiation, or reactions in a particle accelerator.

1 Description
- 1.1 Examples and types
2 Installations of particle detectors
- 2.1 At colliders
- 2.2 Without colliders
3 See also
4 External articles and references

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Description

Detectors designed for modern accelerators are huge, both in size and in cost. The notion counter is often used instead of detector, when the detector counts the particles but does not resolve its energy or ionization. Particle detectors usually can also track ionizing radiation (high energy photons or even visible light). If their main purpose is radiation measurement, they are called radiation detector, but as photons can also be seen as (massless) particles, the term particle detector is still correct.

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Examples and types

Modern particle detectors are constructed from several of these types, often arranged similar to the layers of an onion. For an example of how such a detector is arranged, see ATLAS and CMS. Each type forms a subsystem of the complete particle detector.