YFOS to collaborate with CERN

ATLAS is a particle physics experiment ( http://www.atlas.ch ) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Following the discovery of the Higgs boson, further data will allow new discoveries. In parallel to the LHC upgrade at CERN, the ATLAS detector will undergo an extensive upgrade program. The largest upgrade activity for the Muon Spectrometer is the installation of the New Small Wheels (NSW), scheduled for the 2018/19 shutdown. The NSWs consist of eight layers each of Micromegas (Micro Mesh Gaseous Structures) and small-strip Thin Gap Chambers (sTGC), both providing trigger and tracking capabilities. The total active surface is more than 2500 m2 and represents the first system of such large size based on Micro Pattern (Micromegas) and wire detectors (sTGC).

The work is distributed among a list of academic and research institute partners within the ATLAS collaboration. The LM2 drift panels of the Micromegas will be constructed at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. It is a shared effort between the laboratories of Nuclear and Particle Physics and Machine Tools and Manufacturing Engineering of the schools of Physics and Mechanical Engineering respectively. The demanding task brings up a lot of complex engineering challenges. The mesh stretching is a part of the construction process that requires special skills, expertise and tooling. YFOS was identified as the ideal domestic industry partner to outsource this operation.