Zecotek Announces Contract With the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois to Develop Micro-pixel Avalanche Photo Diodes
Singapore, July 28, 2010 - Zecotek Photonics Inc. (TSX-V: ZMS; Frankfurt: W1I.F), a developer of leading-edge photonics technologies for medical, industrial and scientific markets, today announced that the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois (Fermilab) has contracted with Zecotek to develop a custom Micro-pixel Avalanche Photo Diode (MAPD) based on an existing Zecotek MAPD-3 design. The custom units are required to meet specifications for the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Hadron Calorimeter Phase 1 upgrade. The CMS is a major experiment of the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s newest and highest energy particle accelerator, brought into operation at CERN in 2009.
“Fermilab is one of the world’s leading centers for high energy physics, and their contract for development of our MAPD for the CERN’s Hadron Collider upgrade speaks to the quality of our technological solutions and products,” said Dr. A. F. Zerrouk, Chairman, President and CEO of Zecotek. “We are very pleased to have this contract with Fermilab and look forward to working with CERN’s CMS group on this important project. Zecotek has established itself as the pre-eminent technology solution provider for solid-state photo detection. We are pleased as well to be developing solutions which contribute to the tremendous quest of understanding the makeup of our World.”
The MAPD’s will be developed and delivered through Zecotek Imaging Systems Pte. Ltd, Zecotek’s Singapore-based and wholly-owned subsidiary. Fermilab’s decision followed several months of extensive testing by the CMS group in 2009. The application of Zecotek’s MAPD’s in high energy calorimeters represent another important market for the proprietary devices.
About Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is a Department of Energy national laboratory operated under contract by the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC.
Fermilab advances the understanding of the fundamental nature of matter and energy by providing leadership and resources for qualified researchers to conduct basic research at the frontiers of high energy physics and related disciplines.
The challenge of particle physics is to discover what the universe is made of and how it works. At Fermilab, thousands of scientists from universities and laboratories across the country and around the world collaborate on experiments to open doorways of discovery. From their work in the science and technology of particle physics come a profound understanding of the physics of the universe and many practical benefits to society.
Fermilab’s broad scientific program pushes forward on three interrelated frontiers of particle physics: the energy frontier, the intensity frontier and the cosmic frontier. Each uses a unique approach to making discoveries, and all three are essential to answering key questions about the laws of nature and the cosmos.
About CERN
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature. CERN is the home of the world’s newest and most energetic accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). LHC experiments will address questions such as what gives matter its mass, what the invisible 96% of the Universe is made of, why nature prefers matter to antimatter and how matter evolved from the first instants of the Universe’s existence.
The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions. Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 20 Member States.
About Zecotek
Zecotek Photonics Inc. (TSX-V: ZMS; Frankfurt: W1I) is a photonics technology company developing leading-edge products: crystals, photo detectors, lasers, imaging and 3D display technologies, for medical, biotech, industrial, nanotech and atomic/molecular science applications. Founded in 2003, the company has three distinct operating divisions: Laser Systems, Imaging Systems and 3D Display Systems and labs located in Canada, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and Russia. Zecotek commercializes its novel, patented and patent-pending photonic technologies directly and through strategic alliances and joint ventures with multinational OEMs, distributors and other industry leaders. For more information, please visit www.zecotek.com.
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