Primary Ionization Density Produced by Charged Fragments in the Working Volume of the Fission Chambers

The question of the spatial distribution of ion pairs created by 235U fission fragments in the active volume of the fission chamber has been studied. The formulas of the spatial distribution of ion pairs in cylindrical fission chambers are proposed, which allows you to evaluate correctly the density of ion pairs in any point in the sensitive volume of the fission chamber

Electroluminescence and Electron Avalanching in Two-Phase Detectors

Electroluminescence and electron avalanching are the physical effects used in two-phase argon and xenon detectors for dark matter searches and neutrino detection, to amplify the primary ionization signal directly in cryogenic noble-gas media. We review the concepts of such light and charge signal amplification, including a combination thereof, both in the gas and in the liquid phase. Puzzling aspects of the physics of electroluminescence and electron avalanching in two-phase detectors are explained, and detection techniques based on these effects are described.

Effect of the ohmic drop in a RPC-like chamber for measurements of electron transport parameters

The main advantage of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs), applied, for instance, in High-Energy Experiments and Positron Emission Tomography (PET), is that it is spark-protected due to the presence of, at least, one high-resistive electrode. However, the ohmic drop across the latter can affect the charge multiplication significantly. In this work, we investigate this effect in a RPC-like chamber. The counter was filled with nitrogen at atmospheric pressure and the primary ionization was produced by the incidence of nitrogen pulsed laser beam on an aluminum cathode. The illumination area of the cathode was measured using a foil of millimetric paper overlaid on this electrode. In this way, the resistance of the glass anode could be estimated using the known resistivity of the glass (ρ=2×1012 Ω.cm). Therefore, the voltage drop across the dielectric was calculated by the product of the current across the gas gap and the anode resistance. In order to mitigate the effect of the resistive electrode, the laser beam intensity was limited by interposing metallic meshes between the laser and the chamber window. The dependence of the ohmic drop from the applied voltage was analyzed. The results obtained shown that, without the meshes, the ohmic drop corresponds up to 7% of the applied voltage, preventing the detection system to reach values of density-normalized electric fields in the gas gap (Eeff/N) higher than 166 Td. By minimizing the laser beam intensity and, consequently, the primary ionization, the ohmic drop represented only 0.2% of the applied voltage, extending the Eeff /N range up to 175 Td.

THE GRIDPIX DETECTOR: HISTORY AND PERSPECTIVE

In 2000, the requirements for a large TPC for experiments at a new linear collider were formulated. Both the GEM and Micromegas gas amplification systems had matured, such that they could be practically applied. With the Medipix chip, a pixel-segmented anode readout became possible, offering an unprecedented level of granularity and sensitivity. The single electron sensitive device is a digital detector capable to record and transfer all information of the primary ionization, provided that it can be made discharge proof.