High purity Germanium detector design related clarifications

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AshishGopalakrishnan
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High purity Germanium detector design related clarifications

Post by AshishGopalakrishnan »

Hello everyone,

I am trying to do a case study on some of the design related flaws in a high purity germanium detector. So there is a cylindrical germanium crystal (weighing about a kilogram) that is connected to a vertical copper rod. The setup is shown in the figure that I have attached with this post.

There is a clear triangular plate in this setup that I have marked in yellow. This plate cracks even with the most gentlest handling. So I would like to get your ideas on the following:
1) Which one is optimum for the triangular plate: high thermal conductivity or low thermal conductivity?
2) Since it cracks, what material could it have been made?
3) Why would one have chosen this geometry and material? Is this plate geometry a good design?

The crystal must be kept as cold as possible. Hence, the entire setup is connected to a 30 L liquid nitrogen dewar while running. In addition, the detector is under high vacuum to minimize convective heat transfer between the room-temperature
exterior of the detector and the interior cold crystal and copper rods.

So, for the above questions, I feel that as cold environment is more suitable for operation, the plate should have low thermal conductivity, as even the slightest rise in temperature will reduce the efficiency of operation. I am pretty unsure of the material and the reasoning behind this design.

Any suggestions and ideas that would give more insights into the above questions will be very helpful.


Thanks,
Ashish
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Richard Hull
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Richard Hull »

The triangular plate is for insulation and support which must be superior due to the fact that a form of highspeed detection using ultra-high impedance must be maintained as the current pulses from the typical specially selected FET are miniscule.

If it cracks, did you crack it via over tightening of fittings? Plexiglass, cracks real easy under stress tensioning. I am not sure, but once under LN2, the characteristics of the plastic may change forever, especially if brought back up to room temperature. I assume it is a simple triangle of plexiglass. It looks to be 1/4-inch thick!

Richard Hull
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by AshishGopalakrishnan »

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your response. I also feel that the screws could have cracked the plexiglass.
Richard Hull wrote:
If it cracks, did you crack it via over tightening of fittings? Plexiglass, cracks real easy under stress tensioning. I am not sure, but once under LN2, the characteristics of the plastic may change forever, especially if brought back up to room temperature. I assume it is a simple triangle of plexiglass. It looks to be 1/4-inch thick!

Richard Hull
This is one of the existing designs of a detector, which is currently not being sold in the market. I got this information and the pic from the manufacturer. I will have to submit my ideas about the possible flaws in this design and also suggest possible improvements. Hence, I was trying to understand the reasoning behind such a design for the plate. I understand that there has to be some form of insulation since the germanium crystal has to be maintained at a cold temperature during operation and any form of temperature rise will decrease the efficiency. Hence, one would have chosen Plexiglass for its low thermal conductivity.

However, I am still confused about the design of the triangular plate. I feel that the screws also constrain its movement and as I have mentioned in the previous post, even the gentlest handling causes cracks, which could be due to the fact that the motion of the copper rod in any direction is constrained by the plate. Please let me know your suggestions on my insights.

It would also be helpful if you can give your ideas on what could be the design flaw and possible ways to fix it in terms of geometry and material.

Thanks
Ashish
John Futter
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by John Futter »

I do not know what happened to my last reply
Acryllic plate (perspex) is used extensively in nuclear physics
It is not a perfect insulator it has a known Gohms per sq but only for cast acryllic
extruded has stress built in which alters the Gohm per sq in proportion to stress
Having a known Gohm per sq allows E field compensation.
dont forget one end of that crystal is anything up to 3kV of reverse bias creating the depletion layer (active layer)
we have many high purity Ge detectors and we try to keep them @ LN2 temp all the time
every thermal cycle of LN2 to room temp and back to LN2 temp causes stress in every component especially the low noise fet and associated electronics in the head of that unit
Our oldest Ge is 40 years old and going strong -- it may come up to room temp every couple of years due to error but probably has done less than 20 thermal cycles.
I have heard that annealing extruded acyllic getting it near melting relieves the stress it makes sense but I have no experience with doing this.
The clamping force and clearance of the holes through the acyllic is important get it wrong and it will craze or crack
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Finn Hammer
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Finn Hammer »

gkashish, (You really should introduce yourself first, and also use your real name as handle)

A 3 point connection between standoffs and a plate is a common engineering practice, because you get the possibility of a fairly stress free connection without too strict restrictions on dimensional tolerance on the length of the standoffs. Think of a 3 legged stool, or a tripod, it is always stable on the ground. With this in mind, 5 or 6 standoffs would make a better support.
However, the very large holes between standoff and center of the plate, where the wires pass trough,
Red lines shows the big holes (feed through holes) in the supporting plate
Red lines shows the big holes (feed through holes) in the supporting plate
are definitely not making things any better, there is not much material left to support a structure weighing in at kilograms, particularly not when this weight is waving at the end of a stick
All this said, you don't stand a fair chance saying much of real value, as long as the wording is along the lines of "even with the most gentlest handling", nor that you have a picture showing exactly where the crack occurs.

My response would be something like this:

1. Make the plate round, and save the machining operation where it is made triangular
2. Rotate the hole pattern 60 degrees between feed through holes an fastener holes
3. Reduce size of feed through holes
4. use more standoffs.

This will make the design a whole lot sturdier.

Edit:
I just read John's response which reminds me of my days at Radiometer in Copenhagen, where I was method technician in mechanical engineering section.
We made several heavily machined parts out of acryllic, and these parts had to be annealed between roughing and finishing passes in the lathe, sometimes several times, depending on the intricacy of the part. I don't know the temperatures involved, I just specified it. But it is important to do.

Cheers, Finn Hammer
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Dennis P Brown »

As cold as possible using just liquid nitrogen!? Really? One could use a closed circuit He refrigerator that could get to a few Kelvin at only a small cost in electrical usage (we have two such units used to cool detectors) - obviously, we have little details to go on for why that detector has to use of LN2 (optimum temp, maybe?) While closed He based cooling units can't handle a large heat load,but since I am not aware of the design details of your Ge detector, such a unit might or might not be applicable.

One could use ceramic for both strength and resistance to cracking at a slight cost in thermal conduction - a trade off; considering how cheap LN2 is compared to that massive Ge crystal and the danger to that crystal if the mount fails, I would consider using a far stronger material like a ceramic for the support at the cost of a bit more LN2 use. Failing that, teflon can be used instead and offers better crack resistance (we use teflon (for a similar purpose but we get to under 3 K.)
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by John Futter »

Dennis
When these things were designed there were no cryo coolers
the detectors also tend to be microphonic so a cryo cooler would have to be isolated
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by AshishGopalakrishnan »

Thank you for your responses John Futter, Finn Hammer and Dennis P Brown.

Finn, my apologies for a short introduction. I am a mechanical engineering graduate from Arizona State University. I am currently doing a case study on the finding the design flaws in the detector that is shown in the picture, which is one of the existing designs and currently not being sold in the market. I got this information and the pic from the manufacturer. I will have to submit my ideas about the possible flaws in this design and also suggest possible improvements.

Regarding the cracks, please find the attachment. The plate cracks in the mid-span and around the screws. Hence, from all your suggestions, I feel that the stresses due to thermal cycling and the ones from tightening the bolts could cause it to crack.

Another information I would like to share is that during manufacture, this detector assemble was baked at 100 C at vacuum to remove volatile contaminants like water and adsorbed gases.

As you advised, I could add your points for a better design.

However, is there any other material apart from Plexiglas for the crystal support that would satisfy the following conditions:
-provide thermal insulation
-withstand thermal cycling, vacuum conditions, and also baking temperature.


Thanks,
Ashish
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Dennis P Brown »

I assume you read all of my post? Teflon can meet those requirements you just reposted to replace the rigid plastic in that support bracket- while it does have dimensionality issues at room temp when machined; however, a simple solution to that problem is just use somewhat thicker sections. Teflon is vastly superior to those other plastics relative to its resistance to cracking - also, teflon has no issues at 100 C.

While ceramic isn't in the same class as plastics/teflon relative to lower thermal conduction, simple teflon washers and insulating (plastic) bolts can help mitigate that problem (maybe enough or not; that might require a quick calculation.) Machinable ceramics are vastly stronger, offer extreme dimension stability and far better resistance to cracking, bake out performance and vacuum stability characteristics than those rigid plastics (but certainly not as resistant to cracking compared to teflon.) One just needs to bother with better design to exploit this material.

Still, overall, teflon meets all your requirements and would be your best easy solution.

Aside: rather strange that such large holes are drilled through the plastic support - unless needed (and the photo shows there not), why do that? If the issue is thermal conduction than someone is terribly misled; at LN2 temps, increasing the size of those holes is essentially meaningless for thermal exchange issue across that bracket. Those feed-thru holes should be a good bit smaller. Also, unless vibration is occurring, would not plastic washers offer less stress and cause far less cracking when tighten against your rigid plastic support bracket? Next, why use metal rods if thermal conduction is an issue? Here ceramic would offer superior thermal insulation and and provide the same rigid stability. Since you are redesigning, why not consider these changes? I also should point out that thermal cycling of plastic stressed against those steel rods will create cracking; ceramic has an order of magnitude less thermal expansion over large temperature variations and just replacing those vertical steel rods with ceramic (and not over tightening those bolts) might solve part of the cracking issue in those locations.

Also, is the crystal using a thermal shield? If not, the crystal will see those RmTemp walls and create a huge thermal load. Can't see in the pic so I assume it is shielded - if not, redesign is essential ... .

Finally, might want to use your full name on the lead title post ... .
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Jon Rosenstiel »

I believe the purpose of the holes are to reduce leakage current.

Below is a pic of an Ortec item. Ortec also uses a triangular support bracket similar to the plastic one in Ashish's detector, but it appears to be made from G10 or maybe G11 fiberglass laminate material, but without the holes.


Jon Rosenstiel
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by John Futter »

Dennis
No TEFLON is no good in this use
teflon creeps in fact it would have to be the worst plastic for creep
Also it is too good an insulator so one cannot define the surface electric field therefore you need greater clearances when using teflon as an insulator
one of the best insulators for this kind of use is acryllic followed by G10.
Of course when these detectors were designed G10 had not been invented
Nowadays especially for superconducting magnets the internal support structures are made from very thick G10
Our mechanical workshop at work NC machines alot of G10 for HTS110
https://www.scottautomation.com/hts-110/
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Jerry Biehler »

I have found G10 used in a lot of cryo cooled devices like superconducting magnets and EDX units. Probably the best choice.

Stinks to high heaven and is hell to machine though.
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Richard Hull
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Richard Hull »

G10 is one of the finest tool dullers and fine edge removers I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Get out your diamond hones after machining this stuff.
I made a number of rotary spark gap disks from this stuff and insulator bars. Drilling a lot of holes, too.

Richard Hull
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Jerry Biehler »

If I remember right we cut the stuff with PCD coated end mills. The shop was 200k sq ft and just walking in you could tell someone was running the stuff. Ugh.
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by AshishGopalakrishnan »

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. This has been very informative and helpful.

Based on the responses and some more research into this topic, I came up with the following theoretical conclusions:
Regarding the triangular plate, it could crack due to the following possible reasons:
-Mechanical load applied on the support
-Loads due to stresses due to thermal cycling
-Material that could not withstand either of these of both

I am attaching images that show the triangular plate and a stack of clear plates that also mechanically support the crystal. These stack of clear plates fit tightly in the bore of the detector's end cap.
Image showing stack of clear plates at the detector's end cap
Image showing stack of clear plates at the detector's end cap
Image showing both the supports
Image showing both the supports
As a final step in this case study, I am trying to design a new crystal support system using Solidworks. This new design has to satisfy the following constraints:
- Survive when handled roughly (should not crack)
- Withstand different temperatures (cryogenic temperatures, 100 C bake, thermal cycling)
- Provide insulation
- Minimize material outgassing
- Should be installable in existing detectors that have this cracked plastic plate problem

The last point is a major constrain that has to be taken into consideration. Based on this problem statement that was given to me, I am attaching a file that shows my interpretations regarding the last constraint. Since it has to be installed on existing designs, the following image shows some parameters that will stay in the new design.
Image showing some design related constraints
Image showing some design related constraints
New design ideas:
1) Mechanical support:
As I have mentioned in previous post, the triangular plate cracks even with gentle handling. Hence, assuming that the load is not uniformly distributed in the existing design, I was planning to include another layer in between the top and bottom layer to provide more support. I have included a figure where I would have pointed out this for better understanding.
Design concept example with actual setup.JPG

2) Materials used:
Based on various suggestions, I shortlisted the following materials to be taken into consideration for the new design and chose the best material by comparing their ability to meet the constraints (withstand mechanical and thermal loads):
-Polycarbonate
-Plexiglas
-Ceramic
-Teflon
-G10

3) Design process:
I have drawn 5 more sketches in a similar fashion, and with different arrangements. To design in solidworks, I will be choosing the one design that satisfies all constraints. In the image that shows one of my sketches, I included a middle layer thinking that it would not fail because of the weight of the system.

I am not sure how my design works when it comes to withstanding thermal loads as a result of cycling and fatigue (repeated expansion and contraction). I am sure the material has a role to play. However, I was wondering if there is any way by which the thermal loads can be minimized using mechanical supports, i.e., can this be designed in way where the thermal loads acting on it are minimal?

Please let me know your feedback and suggestions on my design process. I would love to get your inputs. It would be helpful if you can suggest some references and also provide your ideas on what you feel would be the best to do for this system.

Thanks,
Ashish
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Rex Allers »

There seem to be several odd threads happening on these forums lately. I would say this is one of them.
The poster is a new member who, other than his introduction post, has only posted in this one thread that he started.

The thrust seems to be looking for thoughts on a possible mechanical design problem in one aspect of a Germanium detector. Such a detector, though a nice, complicated, rare and expensive toy, seems to be of rather limited or tangential use in fusor applications.

Here's my summary of what I see here:

- you are a mechanical engineering graduate

- doing a "case study" on Germanium detectors

- don't seem to have physical access to this detector but

- it is one of the existing designs of a detector, which is currently not being sold in the market and

- you got this information and the pic from the manufacturer

- and you will have to submit your ideas about the possible flaws in this design and also suggest possible improvements.

I'm getting a vibe that we are "helping you do your homework" or more likely this is some kind of employment audition test. Or worst case, you are really trying to design a fix for the manufacturer by pumping for information here.

Sorry if my interpretation of these things is wrong. Is there some other, less icky, purpose for this thread.
Rex Allers
AshishGopalakrishnan
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by AshishGopalakrishnan »

Rex Allers wrote:There seem to be several odd threads happening on these forums lately. I would say this is one of them.
The poster is a new member who, other than his introduction post, has only posted in this one thread that he started.

The thrust seems to be looking for thoughts on a possible mechanical design problem in one aspect of a Germanium detector. Such a detector, though a nice, complicated, rare and expensive toy, seems to be of rather limited or tangential use in fusor applications.

Here's my summary of what I see here:

- you are a mechanical engineering graduate

- doing a "case study" on Germanium detectors

- don't seem to have physical access to this detector but

- it is one of the existing designs of a detector, which is currently not being sold in the market and

- you got this information and the pic from the manufacturer

- and you will have to submit your ideas about the possible flaws in this design and also suggest possible improvements.

I'm getting a vibe that we are "helping you do your homework" or more likely this is some kind of employment audition test. Or worst case, you are really trying to design a fix for the manufacturer by pumping for information here.

Sorry if my interpretation of these things is wrong. Is there some other, less icky, purpose for this thread.



Hi Rex,

Thank you for the post! Most of your observations are indeed correct - I am new user and a mechanical engineering graduate doing a case study. However, my intentions behind posting on this thread are based out of the intent of gathering knowledge on how to solve this problem. I have not been posting anything on any of the other threads in this forum because not only am I new to this, but there are people here who have way more expertise than I do and can give more insightful suggestions to those seeking opinions. As a result, more often than not, I do feel like I don't have anything more significant to add. But if there are topics where my inputs might be valuable, I will definitely share them.

However, I am not entirely familiar with this forum given that I am new. If such discussions are not the kind that are desirable, I will completely understand.


Thanks,
Ashish
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: High purity Germanium detector design related clarificat

Post by Dennis P Brown »

As a graduate (!) student you really need to use a CAD program for your 'new' design approach that incorporates the required ability to handle the thermodynamics of heat flow and stress fields as well. Hand drawings and guessing on material strengths at cryo temps is useless. Determining real stress fields for a given design/temp cycling requires good CAD software and what you are doing here is NOT how you should handle this design problem. You have learned what materials to use and design changes that could be useful so at this point, you really need to take it to a level that even a junior in college would use.
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