Timing Capabilities of Ultra-Fast Silicon Detectors

The development of Low-Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGADs) has made possible to manufacture silicon detectors with output signals that are about a factor of 10 larger than those of traditional sensors. This increased output brings many benefits such as the possibility of developing thin detectors with large enough signals, a good immunity towards low charge collection efficiency and it is key for excellent timing capabilities. In this paper, we report on the development of silicon sensors based on the LGAD design optimized to achieve excellent timing performance, the so-called Ultra-Fast Silicon Detectors (UFSDs). In particular, we demonstrate the possibility of obtaining ultra-fast silicon detectors with time resolution of less than 30 picosecond