Title :
The fundamental limitations of high-rate gaseous detectors
Author :
Fonte, P. ; Peskov, V. ; Ramsey, B.
Author_Institution :
Coimbra Univ., Portugal
Abstract :
Future high-luminosity experiments make serious demands on detector technologies and have prompted a “chain” of inventions of new high-rate gaseous detectors: microstrip gas counters (MSGCs), microgap chambers (MGCs), compteur a trou (CATs), micromesh gas structure (MICROMEGAS), and gas electron multipliers (GEMs). We report results from a systematic study of breakdown mechanisms in these and other gaseous detectors recently chosen or considered as candidates for high-luminosity experiments. It was found that, for all the detectors tested, the maximum achievable gain before breakdown appeared, dropped dramatically with rate, sometimes inversely proportional to it. Further, in the presence of alpha particles, typical of the backgrounds in high-energy experiments, additional gain drops of 1-2 orders of magnitude were observed for some detectors
Keywords :
alpha-particle detection; electron multiplier detectors; ionisation chambers; position sensitive particle detectors; proportional counters; alpha particles; breakdown mechanisms; compteur a trou; fundamental limitations; gas electron multipliers; high-luminosity experiments; high-rate gaseous detectors; maximum achievable gain; microgap chambers; micromesh gas structure; microstrip gas counters; Alpha particles; Anodes; Cathodes; Detectors; Dielectric substrates; Electric breakdown; Electrodes; NASA; Space technology; Testing;
Conference_Titel :
Nuclear Science Symposium, 1998. Conference Record. 1998 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Toronto, Ont.
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5021-9
DOI :
10.1109/NSSMIC.1998.774815
