Spatial Resolution of a Micromegas-TPC Using the Charge Dispersion Signal
A. Bellerive, K. Boudjemline, R. Carnegie, M. Dixit, J. Miyamoto, E. Neuheimer, A. Rankin, E. Rollin, K. Sachs, J. -P. Martin, V. Lepeltier, P. Colas, A. Giganon, I. Giomataris
备注：
5 pages, 8 figures, to appar in the Proceedings of the 2005 International Linear Collider Workshop (LCWS05), Stanford, 18-22 March 2005
The Time Projection Chamber (TPC) for the International Linear Collider will need to measure about 200 track points with a resolution close to 100 $μ$m. A Micro Pattern Gas Detector (MPGD) readout TPC could achieve the desired resolution with existing techniques using sub-millimeter width pads at the expense of a large increase in the detector cost and complexity. We have recently applied a new MPGD readout concept of charge dispersion to a prototype GEM-TPC and demonstrated the feasibility of achieving good resolution with pads similar in width to the ones used for the proportional wire TPC. The charge dispersion studies were repeated with a Micromegas TPC amplification stage. We present here our first results on the Micromegas-TPC resolution with charge dispersion. The TPC resolution with the Micromegas readout is compared to our earlier GEM results and to the resolution expected from electron statistics and transverse diffusion in a gaseous TPC.
Since the summer of 2003, a large Micromegas TPC prototype (1000 channels, 50 cm drift, 50 cm diameter) has been operated in a 2T superconducting magnet at Saclay. A description of this apparatus and first results from cosmic ray tests are presented. Additional measurements using simpler detectors with a laser source, an X-ray gun and radio-active sources are discussed. Drift velocity and gain measurements, electron attachment and aging studies for a Micromegas TPC are presented. In particular, using simulations and measurements, it is shown that an $Argon-CF_4$ mixture is optimal for operatio…
The International Linear Collider (ILC) Time Projection Chamber (TPC) transverse space-point resolution goal is 100 microns for all tracks including stiff 90 degree tracks with the full 2 meter drift. A Micro Pattern Gas Detector (MPGD) readout TPC can achieve the target resolution with existing techniques using 1 mm or narrower pads at the expense of increased detector cost and complexity. The new MPGD readout technique of charge dispersion can achieve good resolution without resorting to narrow pads. This has been demonstrated previously for 2 mm x 6 mm pads with GEMs and Micromegas in cosmi…
We present ion backflow measurements in a Micromegas (MICRO-MEsh GASeous detector) TPC device developed for the next high energy electron-positron linear collider under study and a simple explanation for this backflow. A Micromegas micro-mesh has the intrinsic property to naturally stop a large fraction of the secondary positive ions created in the avalanche. It is shown that under some workable conditions on the pitch of the mesh and on the gas mixture, the ion feedback is equal to the field ratio (ratio of the drift electric field to the amplification field). Measurements with an intense X-r…
The results of a beam test performed at the KEK PS in June 2005 are presented. Drift properties of an argon-isobutane mixture have been accurately measured and compared with predictions at magnetic fields between 0 and 1 Tesla. The r.m.s. point resolution of a padrow is compared with simulation and with an analytical calculation. The fundamental limitations due to detector geometry and gas properties are reviewed and the measured performances of the detector are found to be close to this limit. A numerical application to the case of a Linear Collider TPC is presented.
Low radioactive material screening is becoming essential for rare event search experiments, such as neutrinoless double beta decay and dark matter searches in underground laboratories. A gaseous time projection chamber (TPC) can be used for such purposes with large active areas and high efficiency. A gaseous TPC with a Micromegas readout plane of approximately 20$\times$20 cm$^2$ is successfully constructed for surface alpha contamination measurements. We have characterized the energy resolution, gain stability, and tracking capability with calibration sources. With the unique track-related ba…
We present in this work measurements performed with a small Micromegas-TPC using a xenon-trimethylamine (Xe-TMA) Penning-mixture as filling gas. Measurements of gas gain and energy resolutions for 22.1 keV X-rays are presented, spanning several TMA concentrations and pressures between 1 and 10 bar. Across this pressure range, the best energy resolution and largest increase in gain at constant field (a standard figure for characterizing Penning-like energy transfers) is observed to be in the 1.5%-2.5% TMA region. A gain increase (at constant field) up to a factor 100 and a best energy resolutio…
The aim of the presented work was to develop further techniques based on a Micromegas-TPC, in order to reach a high gas gain with good energy resolution, and to search for gas mixtures suitable for rare event detection. This paper focuses on xenon, which is convenient for the search of neutrinoless double beta decay in 136 Xe. Conversely, a small admixture of xenon to CF 4 can reduce attachment in the latter. This gas mixture would be suitable for dark matter searches and the study of solar and reactor neutrinos. Various configurations of the Micromegas plane were investigated and are describe…
T2K is a long baseline neutrino experiment that has been operating since 2009 providing some of the world-wide leading measurements for neutrino oscillation parameters. An upgrade for the Near Detector, ND280, of T2K has been proposed. It includes the installation of two new Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on a new read-out technology: the resistive anode MicroMegas (RMM). This technology is expected to reduce the number of electronic channels while maintaining or improving the current ND280 TPCs' bulk MicroMegas perfomance. A series of tests have been performed and further studies are on…
The MICROMEGAS (MICRO-MEsh GAseous Structure) charge amplification structure has found wide use in many detection applications, especially as a gain stage for the charge readout of Time Projection Chambers (TPCs). Here we report on the behavior of a MICROMEGAS TPC when operated in a high-energy (up to 800 MeV) neutron beam. It is found that neutron-induced reactions can cause discharges in some drift gas mixtures that are stable in the absence of the neutron beam. The discharges result from recoil ions close to the MICROMEGAS that deposit high specific ionization density and have a limited dif…
The present $\mathrm{R}\&\mathrm{D}$ activities for the International Large Detector Time Projection Chamber (ILD-TPC) concern the adoption of the micro pattern devices for the gaseous amplification stage. Seven Micromegas modules which are commissioned on the end-plate of a Large Prototype TPC (LPTPC) at DESY, were tested with a 5 GeV electron beam, under a 1 T magnetic field. During experiments, reduced signal sensitivity as well as distortion in the reconstructed track was observed at the boundaries of these modules. Electrostatic field inhomogeneity near the module boundaries was considere…
If Dark Matter is made of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with masses below $\sim$20 GeV, the corresponding nuclear recoils in mainstream WIMP experiments are of energies too close, or below, the experimental threshold. Gas Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) can be operated with a variety of target elements, offer good tracking capabilities and, on account of the amplification in gas, very low thresholds are achievable. Recent advances in electronics and in novel radiopure TPC readouts, especially micro-mesh gas structure (Micromegas), are improving the scalability and low-background…
The Particle And Astrophysical Xenon Experiment III (PandaX-III) is an experiment to search for the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (NLDBD) using 200 kg radio-pure high-pressure gaseous xenon TPC with Micromegas detectors at both ends and cathode in the middle. A small-scale TPC equipped with 7 Microbulk Micromegas detectors is developed as the prototype detector. 128 channels are readout following an X-Y design with strips of 3 mm pitch (64 channels each direction) from one Micromegas module. Highly integrated front-end electronics composed of 4 front-end cards with 1024 readout channels is de…
Dark Matter experiments are recently focusing their detection techniques in low-mass WIMPs, which requires the use of light elements and low energy threshold. In this context, we present the TREX-DM experiment, a low background Micromegas-based TPC for low-mass WIMP detection. Its main goal is the operation of an active detection mass $\sim$0.300 kg, with an energy threshold below 0.4 keVee and fully built with previously selected radiopure materials. This article describes the actual setup, the first results of the comissioning in Ar+2\%iC$_4$H$_{10}$ at 1.2 bar and the future updates for a p…
The search for the neutrinoless double beta decay (0$νββ$) is one of the most important quests nowadays in neutrino physics. Among the different techniques used, high pressure xenon (HPXe) gas time projection chambers (TPC) stand out because they allow to image the topology of the 0$νββ$ event (one straggling track ending in two blobs), and use it to discriminate signal from background events. Recent results with microbulk Micromegas in Xe + trimethylamine (TMA) mixtures show high promise in terms of gain, stability of operation, and energy resolution at high pressures (up to 10 bar). The addi…
The aim of the MIMAC project is to detect non-baryonic Dark Matter with a directional TPC using a high precision Micromegas readout plane. We will describe in detail the recent developments done with bulk Micromegas detectors as well as the characterisation measurements performed in an Argon(95%)-Isobutane(5%) mixture. Track measurements with alpha particles will be shown.
Ion backflow is one of the effects limiting the operation of a gaseous detector at high flux, by giving rise to space charge which perturbs the electric field. The natural ability of bulk Micromegas to suppress ion feedback is very effective and can help the TPC drift volume to remain relatively free of space charge build-up. An efficient and precise measurement of the backflow fraction is necessary to cope up with the track distortion due to the space charge effect. In a subtle but significant modification of the usual approach, we have made use of two drift meshes in order to measure the ion…
Dark Matter experiments are recently focusing their detection techniques in low-mass WIMPs, which requires the use of light elements and low energy threshold. In this context, we describe the TREX-DM experiment, a low background Micromegas-based TPC for low-mass WIMP detection. Its main goal is the operation of an active detection mass $\sim$0.3 kg, with an energy threshold below 0.4 keVee and fully built with previously selected radiopure materials. This work describes the commissioning of the actual setup situated in a laboratory on surface and the updates needed for a possible physics run a…
An upgrade of the Near Detector of the T2K long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, ND280, has been proposed. This upgrade will include two new Time Projection Chambers, each equipped with 16 resistive MicroMegas modules for gas amplification. A first prototype of resistive MicroMegas has been designed, built, installed in the HARP field cage, and exposed to a beam of charged particles at CERN. The data have been used to characterize the performances of the resistive MicroMegas module. A spatial resolution of 300 $μm$ and a deposited energy resolution of 9% were observed for horizontal e…
The second phase of the T2K experiment is expected to start data taking in autumn 2022. An upgrade of the Near Detector (ND280) is under development and includes the construction of two new Time Projection Chambers called High-Angle TPC (HA-TPC). The two endplates of these TPCs will be paved with eight Micromegas type charge readout modules. The Micromegas detector charge amplification structure uses a resistive anode to spread the charges over several pads to improve the space point resolution. This innovative technique is combined with the bulk-Micromegas technology to compose the "Encapsula…
We conducted a series of beam tests of prototype TPCs for the International Linear Collider (ILC) experiment, equipped with an MWPC, a MicroMEGAS, or GEMs as a readout device. The prototype operated successfully in a test beam at KEK under an axial magnetic field of up to 1 T. The analysis of data is now in progress and some of the preliminary results obtained with GEMs and MicroMEGAS are presented along with our interpretation. Also given is the extrapolation of the obtained spatial resolution to that of a large TPC expected for the central tracker of the ILC experiment.
In this work we present a systematic study of Micromegas detectors in high pressure gaseous Xenon using trimethylamine (TMA) as quencher gas. Gas gains and energy resolutions for 22.1 keV X-rays are measured for pressures between 1 and 10 bar and various relative concentrations of TMA from 0.3 % to 15 %. We observe stable operation at all pressures, and a strongly enhanced gas gain, suggestive of Penning-like energy-transfer processes. The effect is present at all pressures and it is strongest at TMA concentrations ranging from 1.5 % to 3 %. Operating in this concentration range, the maximum g…
The bulk Micromegas detector is considered to be a promising candidate for building TPCs for several future experiments including the projected linear collider. The standard bulk with a spacing of 128 micron has already established itself as a good choice for its performances in terms of gas gain uniformity, energy and space point resolution, and its capability to efficiently pave large readout surfaces with minimum dead zone. The present work involves the comparison of this standard bulk with a relatively less used bulk Micromegas detector having a larger amplification gap of 192 micron. Dete…
NEXT-MM is a general-purpose high pressure (10 bar, $\sim25$ l active volume) Xenon-based TPC, read out in charge mode with an 8 cm $\times$8 cm-segmented 700 cm$^2$ plane (1152 ch) of the latest microbulk-Micromegas technology. It has been recently commissioned at University of Zaragoza as part of the R&D of the NEXT $0νββ$ experiment, although the experiment's first stage is currently being built based on a SiPM/PMT-readout concept relying on electroluminescence. Around 2 million events were collected during the last months, stemming from the low energy $γ$-rays emitted by a $^{241}$Am sourc…
With the development of the circular collider, it is necessary to make accurate physics experimental measurements of particle properties at higher luminosity $Z$ pole. Micro-pattern gaseous detectors (MPGDs), which contain Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM) and Micro-mesh gaseous structures (Micromegas), have excellent potential for development as the readout devices of the time projection chamber (TPC) tracker detector. To meet the updated physics requirements of the high luminosity $Z$ from the preliminary concept design report (preCDR) to concept design report (CDR) at the circular electron …
Double beta $ββ$ decay experiments are one of the most active research topics in Neutrino Physics. The measurement of the neutrinoless mode $0νββ$ could give unique information on the neutrino mass scale and nature. The current generation of experiments aims at detector target masses at the 100 kg scale, while the next generation will need to go to the ton scale in order to completely explore the inverse hierarchy models of neutrino mass. Very good energy resolutions and ultra-low background levels are the two main experimental requirements for a successful experiment. The topological informat…
The ILD concept, one of two proposed detector concepts for the planned International Linear Collider (ILC), foresees a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) as the main tracking detector. The LCTPC (Linear Collider TPC) collaboration pursues R&D to develop such a TPC based on the best state-of-the-art technology. After tests with smaller prototypes, the current efforts focus on studies using a large prototype with a diameter of 770 mm and a length of 610 mm. This prototype can accommodate seven read-out modules of a size comparable to the ones that would be used in the final TPC. Several prototypes of…
The most compelling candidates for Dark Matter to day are WIMPs and axions. The applicability of gasesous Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) with Micromesh Gas Structures (Micromegas) to the search of these particles is explored within this work. Both particles would produce an extremely low rate at very low energies in particle detectors. Micromegas detectors can provide both low background rates and low en- ergy threshold, due to the high granularity, radiopurity and uniformity of the readout. Small (few cm wide) Micromegas detectors are used to image the axion-induced x-ray signal expected in …
The aim of the MIMAC project is to detect non-baryonic Dark Matter with a directional TPC. The recent Micromegas efforts towards building a large size detector will be described, in particular the characterization measurements of a prototype detector of 10 $\times$ 10 cm$^2$ with a 2 dimensional readout plane. Track reconstruction with alpha particles will be shown.
An eight chip InGrid module has been tested as readout of a prototype time projection chamber. The construction of the modules as well as first preliminary results are presented. The InGrids, a Micromegas like amplification structure with a pixel ASIC, have been produced on wafer-level in a photolithographic process. For the measurements a newly developed readout system based on the Scalable Readout System was used.
In the search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{136}$Xe, a high pressure xenon time projection chamber (HPXe-TPC) has two advantages over liquid xenon TPCs: a better energy resolution and the access to topological features, which may provide extra discrimination from background events. The PandaX-III experiment has recently proposed a 200 kg HPXe-TPC based on Micromegas readout planes, to be located at the Jinping Underground Laboratory in China. Its detection concept is based on two results obtained within the T-REX project: Micromegas readouts can be built with extremely low level…
A large volume Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is being considered for the central charged particle tracker for the detector for the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC). To meet the ILC-TPC spatial resolution challenge of ~100 microns with a manageable number of readout pads and channels of electronics, Micro Pattern Gas Detectors (MPGD) are being developed which could use pads comparable in width to the proportional-wire/cathode-pad TPC. We have built a prototype GEM readout TPC with 2 mm x 6 mm pads using the new concept of charge dispersion in MPGDs with a resistive anode. The depend…
The PandaX-III experiment uses a high pressure xenon gas TPC to search for the NLDBD of $^{136}$Xe. The Microbulk Micromegas will be used for charge amplification and readout in order to record both the energy and track of an event with high energy resolution and spatial resolution. In the first phase of the experiment, we are building a detector which contains 140 kg 90\% $^{136}$Xe enriched gas operated at 10 bar. The detector will be installed in a dry shielding system at CJPL-II. In this paper, we wil report the design of the PandaX-III detector, including the shielding of the experiment a…
The TPC for the International Linear Collider (ILC) will need to measure about 200 track points with a transverse resolution close to 100 microns. The resolution goal is beyond the capability of the conventional proportional wire/cathode pad TPC and Micro-Pattern Gas Detectors (MPGD) are being developed to meet the challenge. The standard MPGD readout techniques will, however, have difficulty in achieving the ILC-TPC resolution goal with the 2 mm x 6 mm pads as was initially envisioned. Proposals for smaller width pads will improve the resolution but will require a larger number of readout cha…
Micromesh Gas Amplification Structures (Micromegas) are being used in an increasing number of Particle Physics applications since their conception fourteen years ago. More recently, they are being used or considered as readout of Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) in the field of Rare Event searches (dealing with dark matter, axions or double beta decay). In these experiments, the radiopurity of the detector components and surrounding materials is measured and finely controlled in order to keep the experimental background as low as possible. In the present paper, the first measurement of the radi…
We report on the optimization of discharge insensitive floating strip Micromegas (MICRO-MEsh GASeous) detectors, fit for use in high-energy muon spectrometers. The suitability of these detectors for particle tracking is shown in high-background environments and at very high particle fluxes up to 60MHz/cm$^2$. Measurement and simulation of the microscopic discharge behavior have demonstrated the excellent discharge tolerance. A floating strip Micromegas with an active area of 48cm$\times$50cm with 1920 copper anode strips exhibits in 120GeV pion beams a spatial resolution of 50$μ$m at detection…
In experiments searching for rare signals, background events from the detector itself are some of the major factors limiting search sensitivity.Screening for ultra-low radioactive detector materials is becoming ever more essential. We propose to develop a gaseous time projection chamber (TPC) with a Micromegas readout for radio screening. The TPC records three-dimensional trajectories of charged particles emitted from a flat sample placed in the active volume of the detector. The detector can distinguish the origin of an event and identify the particle types with information from trajectories,…
The dark matter directional detection opens a new field in cosmology bringing the possibility to build a map of nuclear recoils that would be able to explore the galactic dark matter halo giving access to a particle characterization of such matter and the shape of the halo. The MIMAC (MIcro-tpc MAtrix of Chambers) collaboration has developed in the last years an original prototype detector based on the direct coupling of large pixelized micromegas with a devoted fast self-triggered electronics showing the feasibility of a new generation of directional detectors. The discovery potential of this…
In view of a possible application as a charge-particle track readout for an Active-Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC), the operational properties and performances of a hybrid Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detector (MPGD) were investigated in pure low-pressure Hydrogen (H2) and Helium (He). The detector consists of a MICROMesh GAseous Structure (MICROMEGAS) coupled to a single- or multi-cascade THick Gaseous Electron Multiplier (THGEM) as a pre-amplification stage. This study reports of the effective gain dependence of the hybrid-MPGD at relevant pressure (in the range of 200-760 torr) for differe…
The ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) proposes major detector upgrades to fully exploit the increase of the luminosity of the LHC in RUN~3 and to extend the physics reach for rare probes at low transverse momentum. The Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is one of the main tracking and PID devices in the central barrel of ALICE. The maximum trigger rate of the TPC is currently limited to about 3.5 kHz by the operation of a gating grid system. In order to make full use of the luminosity in RUN 3, the TPC is foreseen to be operated in an ungated mode with continuous readout. The exis…
Particles weakly interacting with ordinary matter, with an associated mass of the order of an atomic nucleus (WIMPs), are plausible candidates for Dark Matter. The direct detection of an elastic collision of a target nuclei induced by one of these WIMPs has to be discriminated from the signal produced by the neutrons, which leaves the same signal in a detector. The MIMAC (MIcro-tpc MAtrix of Chambers) collaboration has developed an original prototype detector which combines a large pixelated Micromegas coupled with a fast, self-triggering, electronics. Aspects of the two-chamber module in oper…
Micro-pattern gas detectors, such as the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) and the Micromegas need narrow high density anode readout elements to achieve good spatial resolution. A high-density anode readout would require an unmanageable number of electronics channels for certain potential micro-detector applications such as the Time Projection Chamber. We describe below a new technique to achieve good spatial resolution without increasing the electronics channel count in a modified micro-detector outfitted with a high surface resistivity anode readout structure. The concept and preliminary measure…
The third generation of the Beijing Electron Spectrometer, BESIII, is an apparatus for high energy physics research. The hunting of new particles and the measurement of their properties or the research of rare processes are sought to understand if the measurements confirm the Standard Model and to look for physics beyond it. The detectors ensure the reconstruction of events belonging to the sub-atomic domain. The operation and the efficiency of the BESIII inner tracker is compromised due to the the radiation level of the apparatus. A new detector is needed to guarantee better performance and t…
The performance of a novel tracking detector developed for the focal plane of the NSCL/FRIB S800 magnetic spectrometer is presented. The detector comprises a large-area drift chamber equipped with a hybrid Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detector (MPGD)-based readout. The latter consists of a position-sensitive Micromegas detector preceded by a two-layer M-THGEM multiplier as a pre-amplification stage. The signals from the Micromegas readout are processed by a data acquisition system based on the General Electronics for TPC (GET). The drift chamber has an effective area of around 60x30 cm^2, which match…
A double-phase argon Time Projection Chamber (TPC), with an active mass of 185 g, has been designed and constructed for the Recoil Directionality (ReD) experiment. The aim of the ReD project is to investigate the directional sensitivity of argon-based TPCs via columnar recombination to nuclear recoils in the energy range of interest (20-200 keV$_{nr}$) for direct dark matter searches. The key novel feature of the ReD TPC is a readout system based on cryogenic Silicon Photomultipliers, which are employed and operated continuously for the first time in an argon TPC. Over the course of six months…
Characterization of Charge Spreading and Gain of Encapsulated Resistive Micromegas Detectors for the Upgrade of the T2K Near Detector Time Projection Chambers
In the last few years our group have focused on developing various designs of spark-protected micropattern gaseous detectors featuring resistive electrodes instead of the traditional metallic ones: resistive microstrip counters, resistive GEM, resistive MICROMEGAS. These detectors combine in one design the best features of RPCs (spark-protection) and micropattern detectors (a high position resolution). In this paper we report the progress so far made in developing other types of resistive micropattern detectors: a microdot-microhole detector and a microgap-microstrip detector. The former detec…
