Asymmetric and double-cathode-pad wire chambers for the LHCb muon system

We present results from two types of Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers (MWPCs) with wire pitch of 1.5 mm and cathode–cathode distance of 5 mm intended for triggering purposes in the LHCb experiment. Both prototypes use cathode readout because this allows arbitrary segmentation in order to achieve the required granularity. One MWPC prototype uses a symmetric wire–cathode distance (2.5/2.5 mm) with double cathode readout, which doubles the signal compared to reading only one cathode. The second prototype uses an asymmetric wire–cathode distance (1.25/3.75 mm) with single cathode readout which also doubles the signal and in addition reduces the width of the induced charge distribution and therefore reduces the crosstalk for small cathode pads. We also performed a dedicated optimization of readout traces and guard traces in order to reduce the pad–pad crosstalk. Both prototypes show a few hundred volts of operating plateau defined as the region with 99% efficiency in a 20 ns time window. Close to the plateau end, a time resolution of better than 3 ns was achieved.