For more than 70 years, Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Instrumentation Department has developed advanced technology in support of science and national security.
Through our in-house expertise in sensors, electronics, and complex systems and state-of-the-art fabrication, testing, and characterization facilities, we work together with our customers to provide customized solutions to instrumentation challenges. We lead innovation in several areas—from detectors probing for fundamental particles created in the formation of the universe billions of years ago to quantum networks for the internet of the future.
Realizing that no two challenges are the same, we engage with our customers from concept to completion. Our deep technical understanding informs the design process, ensuring that the final delivered product meets the goals defined at project onset.
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Gabriella Carini
Associate Laboratory Director, Discovery Technologies
(631) 344-3004, carini@bnl.gov
Announcements
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There are no announcements at this time.
Examples from our project portfolio
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Enabling ultrafast detectors with LGADs
We fabricated the first capacitively coupled (AC) low-gain avalanche diodes (LGADs) based on a new design concept that preserves fast timing capabilities, making these silicon sensors promising candidates for particle tracking in future high-energy physics experiments.
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Improving energy resolution with SDDs
Our co-invention of the silicon drift detector (SDD) has enabled unsurpassed energy resolution and high count rates for a variety of scientific and industrial applications, including particle physics, astrophysics, mining, and soil surveying.
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Detecting gamma rays with TlBr
We are developing a detector based on thallium bromide (TlBr)—an emerging semiconductor material with excellent radiation-detection properties—to determine the location and content of radioactive sources that emit gamma rays.
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Detecting gamma-emitting astrophysical objects with CZT detectors
In support of future astrophysics missions that will probe black holes and other spectacular objects in the universe, we are developing ultrathick cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detectors with high energy and position resolution.
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Building the sensor array for the world’s largest digital camera
We have been conceptualizing, designing, constructing, and qualifying the sensor array and electronics for Rubin Observatory’s Simonyi Survey Telescope, which will provide an unprecedented view of the universe.
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Cooling ion beams with electrons to explore nuclear matter
We fabricated photocathodes for generating electron bunches to cool ion beams at Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. This electron cooling will maximize collision rates, especially at low energies, enabling scientists to explore how nuclear matter exists in different phases.
The Instrumentation Department is part of Brookhaven Laboratory's Discovery Technologies Directorate.
