This detector is part of the ALICE experiment's Time Projection Chamber (TPC). With incredible precision, the TPC records the thousands of tracks of charged particles spraying out from the collision, allowing each particle to be identified. In such a dense, electronics-filled environment, it is rare to find a relatively empty space - yet most of the TPC's 88m3 volume is filled with just gas, with read-out detectors, like this one located on the outer surface.

This detector is part of the ALICE experiment's Time Projection Chamber (TPC). With incredible precision, the TPC records the thousands of tracks of charged particles spraying out from the collision, allowing each particle to be identified. In such a dense, electronics-filled environment, it is rare to find a relatively empty space - yet most of the TPC's 88m3 volume is filled with just gas, with read-out detectors, like this one located on the outer surface.

Under the microscope you can see a pixel of silicon from a new generation of high-precision detectors under development for ALICE. The ALICE detector is designed for the periods when the LHC collides the nuclei of lead atoms rather than protons. These lead collisions produce extremely dense tangles of particle tracks and many short-lived particles. Precision is key! The new silicon detectors are extremely thin and can measure the passage of particles with a precision of 5 thousandth’s of a millimetre. The connections to the electronics are integrated into the silicon.

A half shell of the barrel CMS Pixel Phase-0 that was installed at the start-up of the Large Hadron Collider (2009-2016 in operation) and has been involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson.

Used in LEP experiment. It is a element of the first OPAL silicon strip vertex detector.

An alternative method of detecting particles spraying out of collisions in the inner regions of experiments uses scintillating fibres.