A direct time measurement technique for the two-dimensional precision coordinate detectors based on thin-walled drift tubes

This article presents the results of a study of the longitudinal spatial resolution by means of the direct timing method (DTM) using 2 m long and 9.53 mm diameter straw tubes. The feasibility of achieving the spatial resolution (r.m.s.) better than 2 cm over full length of the straw is demonstrated. The spatial resolution changes little when measured by detecting gammas from a Fe-55 gamma ray source or minimum ionizing electrons from a Ru-106 source. The use of the same type of front end electronics (FEE) both for measuring the drift time of ionization electrons and propagation time of a signal along the anode wire allows one to construct a detector capable for measuring the two dimensional coordinates of charged particles.