FGLD: a novel and compact micro-pattern gas detector

A new gas detector which combines in the same structure the gas amplification mechanism and the position sensitive readout, named the field gradient lattice detector (FGLD), is being developed at CERN. The detector, reminiscent in geometry of a multi-wire proportional chamber but with a different field configuration can be fabricated as two or more layers of micro-patterned parallel tracks on a variety of substrate materials. eliminary proof-of-concept designs without position sensitivity have been fabricated as copper tracks of 50 μ m width and 150 μ m pitch on polyimide in a 3D geometry and on epoxy in a 2D geometry. They have been shown to detect the 5.9 keV X-rays of an 55Fe source with a stable gain ranging from 500 to 5000 in a 3 mm drift chamber containing an argon carbon-dioxide gas mixture. egance and compactness of the FGLD design make it a very attractive gas detector solution both economically and mechanically. Most interestingly, the 3D FGLD design on flexible polyimide should greatly simplify the mechanical challenges of gas chamber assembly in planar and cylindrical detector designs.