Probing active-edge silicon sensors using a high precision telescope

The performance of prototype active-edge VTT sensors bump-bonded to the Timepix ASIC is presented. Non-irradiated sensors of thicknesses 100-200 μm and pixel-to-edge distances of 50 μm and 100 μm were probed with a beam of charged hadrons with sub-pixel precision using the Timepix telescope assembled at the SPS at CERN. The sensors are shown to be highly efficient up to a few micrometers from the physical edge of the sensor. The distortion of the electric field lines at the edge of the sensors is studied by reconstructing the streamlines of the electric field using two-pixel clusters. These results are supported by TCAD simulations. The reconstructed streamlines are used to study the field distortion as a function of the bias voltage and to apply corrections to the cluster positions at the edge.