A study of factors limiting the maximum gain in microstrip gas counters

Author

Ramsey, B.D. ; Peskov, V. ; Kolodziejczak, J.J.

Author_Institution

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA

Volume

44

Issue

3

fYear

1997

fDate

6/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

640

Lastpage

645

Abstract

It was shown in our previous paper that the maximum achievable gain in microstrip gas counters (MSGCs) is limited by surface streamers, which are self-quenched over a very limited voltage region and quickly transit to breakdown sparks. In this work we have tried to identify the main factors governing the maximum gain at which the streamers appear, and towards this end have made simulations and tested MSGCs of different geometries and on different substrates in both Ar- and Xe-based gas mixtures at pressures from 0.1 to 3 atm. From these studies, we conclude that in order to reduce surface breakdowns in MSGCs, the multiplication should be concentrated to the narrowest region around the anode strips and the gas gain elsewhere, especially near should be maximally suppressed. For narrow anodes and gas mixtures with proper Townsend coefficients should be used. Control experiments we performed confirm these hypotheses

Keywords

Townsend discharge; gas mixtures; ionisation chambers; position sensitive particle detectors; sparks; surface discharges; 0.1 to 3 atm; Townsend coefficients; anode strips; breakdown sparks; gas mixtures; maximum achievable gain; maximum gain limitation; microstrip gas counters; narrow anodes; surface breakdowns; surface streamers; Anodes; Breakdown voltage; Counting circuits; Electric breakdown; Geometry; Microstrip; Solid modeling; Sparks; Strips; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.603725

Filename

603725