New Configuration of Zecotek LFS Scintillation Crystals a top Candidate for the CMS Experiment at CERN

SINGAPORE, July 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - Zecotek Photonics Inc. (TSX-V: ZMS; Frankfurt: W1I.F), a developer of leading-edge photonics technologies for industrial, healthcare and scientific markets, today announced that it is now close to having its patented LFS scintillation crystals approved for use at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland.  The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Experiment has requested specially designed plates of LFS-3 crystals for testing as part of another major CMS experiment for the new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.  This announcement comes after a thorough examination of competing materials by CERN's scientists and engineers.  The request is in addition to one of Zecotek's LFS crystal designs already being considered for another of CERN's major experiments.

"We are pleased with the performance of Zecotek's new LFS-3 configuration using plates geometry and we are confident that it will pass all the prerequisites needed for the new electromagnetic calorimeter part of CERN's LHC and CMS upgrades," said Dr. Michael Arenton, Senior Research Scientist with the CERN LHC Scintillation Material project and senior member of the Experimental High Energy Physics group at the University of Virginia.  "We look forward to receiving a positive decision to use LFS-3 in this important part of CERN's major experiments."

"This is another important step in the evaluation of our patented LFS-3 scintillation crystals for use in experiments at CERN," said Dr. A.F. Zerrouk, Chairman, President, and CEO of Zecotek Photonics Inc.  "Our LFS crystal is a prime candidate for the high energy experiments because of its density of material, stopping power, fast decay time, very good energy resolution, and radiation hardness. The overall experiment benefits from reduced labour and re-calibration costs associated with single crystal forms and less interruptions associated with the maintenance and refitting of damaged crystals.  The new and improved crystal plate design is a significant breakthrough for this experiment.  We look forward to a timely implementation."

The CMS Experiment is one of two large general-purpose particle physics detectors built on the LHC at CERN in Europe.  The three main components of the LHC are scintillation materials, photo-detectors and the ubiquitous electronic system. As part of the new upgrade at the LHC, Zecotek's new LFS-3 crystal configuration is a prime candidate for one of the major components of CMS experiment.

The goal of the CMS Experiment is to investigate a wide range of physics, including the search for the Higgs boson, extra dimensions, and particles that could make up dark matter.  It has been designed and built to replace an electromagnetic calorimeter for the end cap regions of the detector, known as "Shashlik".  The Shashlik consists of a stack of tungsten plates and scintillating crystal layers.  The whole detector would require just under 2 million of Zecotek's newly designed LFS-3 plates.  Implementation schedule will coincide with the restart of the LHC in 2015.

In March 2013, CERN scientists confirmed that a new subatomic particle discovered at the world's most powerful particle accelerator is the Higgs Boson.  As CERN pushes into this new frontier of science, additional experiments are required to determine the particle's properties and its true form.  High-energy scintillation crystals with high radiation hardness and solid-state photo detectors are paramount for the success of the next stage of experiments.   Zecotek is also waiting for approvals on the installation of its patented LFS-3 scintillation crystals and solid-state MAPD photo detector for other major CERN experiments as part of the new LHC upgrades.

About the CMS Experiment at CERN
CMS is one of two general-purpose experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that have been built to search for new physics. CMS is designed to detect a wide range of particles and phenomena produced in the LHC's high-energy proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions.  At CMS, scientists are looking into the unknown and trying to answer the most fundamental questions about our Universe, for example: "What is the Universe really made of and what forces act within it?" and "What gives everything substance?".  CMS also measures the properties of well-known particles with unprecedented precision and is on the lookout for completely new, unpredicted phenomena. Such research not only increases our understanding but may eventually spark new technologies that could change the world we live in. The CMS experiment is one of the largest international scientific collaborations in history, involving 4300 particle physicists, engineers, technicians, students and support staff from 179 universities and institutes in 41 countries.   For more information about CMS please visit http://cms.web.cern.ch.

About Zecotek
Zecotek Photonics Inc (TSX-V: ZMS; Frankfurt: W1I) is a photonics technology company developing high-performance scintillation crystals, photo detectors, positron emission tomography scanning technologies, 3D auto-stereoscopic displays, and lasers for applications in medical, high-tech and industrial sectors.  Founded in 2004, Zecotek operates three divisions: Imaging Systems, Laser Systems and 3D Display Systems with labs located in Canada, Korea, Russia, Singapore and U.S.A. The management team is focused on building shareholder value by commercializing over 50 patented and patent pending novel photonic technologies directly and through strategic alliances and joint ventures with leading industry partners such as Hamamatsu Photonics (Japan), the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Switzerland), Beijing Opto-Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. (China), NuCare Medical Systems (South Korea), and National NanoFab Center (South Korea).  For more information visit www.zecotek.com, follow @zecotek on Twitter.

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SOURCE Zecotek Photonics Inc.

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