Effects of non-parallel magnetic fields on hexagonal cell drift chambers

The effect of magnetic field on drift velocity was measured in a wire chamber with a hexagonal cell geometry and an argon-ethane gas mixture. Using cosmic ray tracks, the drift-time-to-distance correlation was studied as a function of magnetic field strength. Particular attention was paid to the corrections due to differing track entrance angles and differing angles of the magnetic field direction with respect to the wire axis. Spatial resolutions better than 180 μm were achieved for field strengths up to 1.5 T and angles between wire and field direction ranging from 0° to 30°. An argon-ethane mixture diluted with 60% helium showed less sensitivity to magnetic field effects, and only slight worse resolution