Imaging gaseous detectors and their applications E-Book

Eugenio Nappi

• Herausgeber: Wiley-VCH
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 491

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Describing advanced detectors and their visualization and investigation techniques, this book presents the major applications in nuclear and high-energy physics, astrophysics, medicine and radiation measurements.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Related Titles

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Exploring the Universe by Detecting Photons and Particles

1.2 Detectors of Photons and Charged Particles

References

Chapter 2: Basic Processes in Gaseous Detectors

2.1 Interaction of Charged Particles and Photons with Matter

2.2 Drift of Electrons and Ions in Gases

2.3 Some Remarks on the Diffusion

2.4 Avalanche Multiplication in Gases

References

Chapter 3: Traditional Position-Sensitive Gaseous Detectors and Their Historical Development: From the Geiger Counter to the Multi-Wire Proportional Chamber (1905 till 1968)

3.1 Geiger and Spark Counters

3.2 Parallel-Plate Spark and Streamer Detectors

3.3 Further Developments: Pulsed High Frequency Detectors

References

Chapter 4: The Multi Wire Proportional Chamber Era

References

Chapter 5: More in Depth about Gaseous Detectors

5.1 Pulse-Shape Formation in Gaseous Detectors in Absence of Secondary Effects

5.2 Townsend Avalanches and Secondary Processes

5.3 Discharges in Gaseous Detectors

5.4 Features of Operation of Wire Detectors at High Counting Rates

5.5 Afterpulses and the Cathode-“Excitation” Effect

References

Chapter 6: New Ideas on Gaseous Detectors Conceived during the Early Years of the “Multi Wire Proportional Chambers” Era (1968–1977)

6.1 Drift Chambers

6.2 Time Projection Chamber

6.3 First Designs of Resistive-Plate Chambers

6.4 Photosensitive Gaseous Detectors

References

Chapter 7: Developments in MWPCs, PPACs, and RPCs After 1977

7.1 Modern Photosensitive Gaseous Detectors

7.2 RICH Detectors

7.3 Special Designs of MWPCs and Parallel-Plate Detectors

7.4 Parallel-Plate Avalanche Chambers

7.5 Santonico's (Spark/Streamer) RPCs

7.6 Avalanche RPCs

References

Chapter 8: Micropattern Gaseous Detectors

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Signal-Readout Techniques

8.3 Efforts in the Design Optimization of Micropattern Detectors

8.4 Gain Limit

8.5 Position Resolution

8.6 Recent Promising Developments in Micropattern Gaseous Detectors

8.7 Conclusions

References

Chapter 9: Applications of Imaging Gaseous Detectors

9.1 High-Energy and Nuclear Physics

9.2 Application to Astrophysics

9.3 Applications to Medicine and Biology

9.4 Application to Homeland Security

9.5 Plasma Diagnostics

9.6 New Areas of Application for Gaseous Imaging Detectors

References

Chapter 10: Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

Index

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The Authors

Eugenio Nappi

INFN - Sezione di Bari

Via G. Amendola, 173I

70124 Bari

Italien

Vladimir Peskov

PH Div

CERN

1211 Genève 23

Schweiz

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Preface

This book contains an exhaustive review of the basic principles and properties of gas filled detectors of photons and charged particles as widely used in various physics experiments and applications.

The core of this book is the lectures given by one of the authors (V. P.) to the students attending the Royal Institute of technology in Stockholm in 2002. Since that time, many new exciting developments happened in the area of gas filled detectors which we have tried of course to include in our book.

The most famous position-sensitive gaseous detector – the multi-wire proportional chamber – was introduced in 1965 at CERN by G. Charpak and his collaborators. Since then the technology of multi-wire detectors was implemented in many areas: from high energy physics experiments to medical imaging. In 1999, G. Charpak was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the important role that this detector has played in science and for its applications. Despite thousands of scientific publications on this subject, still few books illustrate the latest achievements in this field and the applications of position-sensitive gaseous detectors.

Moreover, in the last decade, new types of position-sensitive gas filled detectors appeared, for example Resistive-Plate Chambers (RPCs) and Micro-Pattern Gas-filled Detectors (MPGDs), which are routinely used in various high-energy physics experiments. To our best knowledge, there is not a single book describing the achievements made so far in developing RPCs or MPGDs. During the last decade there was also a great progress in the understanding of operation of gaseous detectors, and the factors limiting their maximum achievable gain at low and at very high counting rates. These breakthrough studies are also detailed in our book, with a special emphasis on the main applications of imaging gaseous detectors: from traditional fields, such as high energy physics, astrophysics, medicine and biology to the new ones such as environmental and home-land security.

In this book, therefore, we have tried to fill the gap between the present rapid developments in the field of position-sensitive gaseous detectors and their basic and analytical descriptions as meant for a wide auditorium of readers: from the scientific community, to whom this book contains an established body of knowledge to be critically evaluated, to “non-professionals, graduate students specialized in high energy physics, astrophysics, medical physics and radiation measurements in general, engineering, Ph.D students and post grads working in the same areas, researchers, lectures, professors, engineers working in various fields from experimental physics to industrial applications, electronics and homeland security.

We hope that the book will also be useful for physics teachers, advanced high school and college students. Indeed, there exist several national programs, of “Hands on Physics”, for example in the USA (conceived by Prof. L. Lederman), in France (launched by G. Charpak) and in Italy (led by Prof A. Zichichi) conceived with the goal to stimulate not only high school students but even small aged school children to make research in various scientific areas. For example, RPCs built at CERN with the participation of high school students and teachers are used to detect muon showers induced by energetic cosmic rays interacting in the atmosphere. As it has been reported in the CERN Courier (see http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/29833): “…ultimately it will cover a million square km of Italian and Swiss territory. It would be very expensive to implement such a large project without involving existing structures, namely schools all over Italy and parts of Switzerland. This “economic” strategy also has the advantage of bringing advanced physics research to the heart of the new generation of students”.

Therefore, we strongly hope that our book will be useful also for the teachers and high school students involved in the above cited programs.

In fact, some gas filled detectors (for example wire-type or hole-type) have such simple designs that they can be easily manufactured in house and they can even operate in ambient air and efficiently detect Radon and other natural radioactivity or flames and dangerous gases without the need of sophisticated electronics systems. The book could thus be useful to an auditorium of people who like physics and the construction of simple home devices. We wish to dedicate this book to the memory of Georges Charpak with whom we shared our plans to write a review on gaseous detectors. He kindly agreed to read the draft and write the introduction. Unfortunately, we could not benefit of his advice since he passed away on September 29, 2010.

Geneva,

Eugenio Nappi,

August 2012

Vladimir Peskov

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Exploring the Universe by Detecting Photons and Particles

Any of us, at least once in our live, while looking at the bright stars, during a clear night, has asked himself, what is the Universe? From what is all of it made and how did it all begin?

The human eye allows us to see objects emitting or reflecting light in the range of wavelengths from 380 to 760 nm, which is called the “visible region of the spectrum.” Therefore, our first experience in observing the Universe is in this visible region (see Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Sky view during a clear night.

The visible region is, however, a small part of the entire interval of electromagnetic radiations present in the Universe, ranging from the radiowaves to the gamma rays (Figure 1.2). Besides the electromagnetic radiation spectrum, various elementary particles with energies belonging to a wide range traverse the Earth's atmosphere and reach the ground level. The study of both radiations (electromagnetic radiation and particles) obviously provides much more information about the Universe and its properties than the simple observations made only in the visible region. The detection (and imaging) of this “invisible” messengers becomes possible only with the help of special devices, which have enabled scientists to achieve fundamental discoveries, for example, the existence of X-ray sources in the galaxy and γ-bursts. Radiation detectors are nowadays used in many laboratories for basic research and in various applied fields from medicine to industrial uses.

Figure 1.2 Schematic classification of the various intervals of the electromagnetic spectrum.

This book focuses on the so-called gas-filled detectors, which have several important advantages over other types, that is, the cost effectiveness of covering large detection areas, the insensitivity to magnetic fields and the capability to detect photons from visible light to X-rays, gamma radiation as well as charged particles.

According to their historical development, gaseous detectors can be schematically divided into two classes: “first generation detectors,” which feature a limited imaging capability (basically single-wire counters and parallel-plate spark and streamer chambers developed before 1968) and “novel generation detectors”, which, developed after 1968, feature high position resolution, and the capability of performing an electronic image processing (multiwire proportional counters, drift chambers, time-projection chambers, photosensitive detectors, and micropattern gaseous detectors).

“First generation” gaseous detectors are exhaustively described in numerous excellent books, see for example [1–5], therefore we will briefly review only the most significative examples of them in this book. Conversely, we will focus on developments and breakthroughs achieved after 1968.

1.2 Detectors of Photons and Charged Particles

Detectors can be classified into four main categories: vacuum, gaseous, liquid, and solid-state according to the medium in which the impinging radiation interacts.

In order to better describe the role of gas-filled detectors, hereinafter a short review of each category of existing position-sensitive detectors of photons and charged particles will be provided.

Most detectors work on the basis of the same operational principle and, as a consequence, they share a common design structure. They usually consist (with some rare exceptions) of the following four subsequent parts: (i) a transducer of the incident radiation into primary electrons, (ii) a primary electron multiplication structure, where the primary electrons create many secondary electrons, (iii) a transfer region, where secondary electrons are drifted by an electric field to the readout electrodes, and (iv) a collection-electrode structure.

The basic operational principle is as follows. The incident radiation creates primary electrons (in some cases electron–ion pairs) in the convertor. These electrons, under the influence of the applied (by the detector electrodes) electric field, drift to the electron multiplication structure, where each primary electron creates a certain number, , of secondary electrons, often called the “multiplication factor.” Depending on the detector type, the multiplication factor ranges typically between 10 and 10. These secondary electrons are then collected on a system of electrodes where they produce fast electronic signals. The rise time of the electronic signal could be much less than microseconds. By measuring these signals (by front-end microelectronics equipped with compact charge-sensitive amplifiers or, in some cases, current amplifiers) one can electronically detect the radiation, obtain positional information about this radiation and, whenever necessary, visualize it (transfer it to a visible image), and measure its characteristics, for example, its energy.