Dr. Jiaguo Zhang

Jiaguo Zhang is a detector scientist at the Paul Scherrer Insitute (PSI) in Switzerland. He studied physics at Liaoning University and then particle and nuclear physics at Peking University for his master's degree with a thesis on the cross-section evaluation for (n,alpha) reactions induced by fast neutrons. In 2009, he was granted the Marie Curie Fellowship (MC-PAD) for his Ph.D. studies at the Institute of Experimental Physics, Hamburg University on the topic of X-ray radiation damage in silicon sensors and sensor development for the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (EuXFEL) (DESY-thesis-13-018). After receiving his doctorate in 2013, he worked at DESY on edgeless sensor development and the AGIPD detector as a post-doctoral researcher for two and a half years. Since early 2016, he joined the photon science detector group at PSI and worked as a postdoc on the development of the Gotthard-II detector for the EuXFEL as well as silicon sensors for soft X-ray detection and then became a scientist.  

1. Gotthard-II detector development in collaboration with the EuXFEL
Gotthard-II is a high frame rate (4.5 MHz burst & 400 kHz CW), charge-integrating silicon microstrip detector for energy dispersive experiments at free-electron lasers (FELs) and synchrotron radiation sources. He is responsible for developing and characterizing the Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) of the Gotthard-II and exploring calibration procedures for final detector systems. He also supports detector commissioning across EuXFEL instruments and user Pilot experiments using the Gotthard-I/II detector at different facilities. 

2. Soft X-ray sensor development in collaboration with FBK
In collaboration with sensor foundry FBK, he develops silicon sensors with thin entrance windows (TEW) and internal gain (LGAD) which are compatible with the readout ASICs developed by the photon science detector group of PSI for soft X-ray detection with improved performance. These technological developments deliver hybrid X-ray detectors with high speed, large detection area, and superior dynamic range, optimized for the detection of low-energy photons in cutting-edge research performed at the advanced radiation sources, that usually cannot be provided by commercially available CCDs and CMOS pixel imagers.

Jiaguo Zhang's research work is focused on the development of hybrid X-ray detectors for FEL and synchrotron applications and new technologies to overcome the limitations of silicon sensors currently employed by the hybrid X-ray detectors. The former includes those radiation hard, high frame rate, charge-integrating silicon microstrip and pixel detectors. The latter involves the optimization of thin entrance window technology for soft X-ray detection with improved quantum efficiency and development of segmented low gain avalanche sensors with optimized signal-to-noise ratio and fill factor for X-ray photons with low energies. He is also interested in characterization, simulation and modeling of silicon sensors towards a better understanding of sensor performance and realization of optimized sensor designs.

For an extensive overview we kindly refer you to our publication repository: DORA

Sensor Research and Development

Detector development