The ePIC experiment is currently in the R&D stage with construction expected to start in 2025 for a completion in 2031.
The University of Oxford is part of a UK consortium that aims to supply the two outer layers of the Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT) for the ePIC experiment at the EIC collider at Brookhaven National Lab in the USA. This detector is based on ultra-thin CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS). This state-of-the-art sensor technology is based on commercial technologies and integrates the on-detector electronics into the sensor.
A central design challenge of modern tracking and vertexing systems is to minimise the material in the detector. To achieve this goal, the Oxford group is working on the development of ultra-light support structures using composite materials, with integrated electrical and cooling services, and technologies to assess the performance of these structures. To reduce service material novel schemes to supply electrical power to the sensors like serial powering are being developed and the Oxford group is involved in these studies.
During the construction of the experiment we plan to participate in the assembly of support structures and the provision of elements of the powering and readout systems, and in the integration of the detector in the UK, before shipment to the US.