C. Perez-Lara, S. Aune, B. Azmoun, K. Dehmelt, A. Deshpande, W. Fan, P. Garg, T. K. Hemmick, M. Kebbiri, A. Kiselev, I. Mandjavidze, M. L. Purschke, M. Revolle, M. Vandenbroucke, C. Woody
Due to their simplicity and versatility of design, straight strip or rectangular pad anode structures are frequently employed with micro-pattern gas detectors to reconstruct high precision space points for various tracking applications. The particle impact point is typically determined by interpolating the charge collected by several neighboring pads. However, to effectively extract the inherent positional information, the lateral spacing of the straight pads must be significantly smaller than the extent of the charge cloud. In contrast, highly interleaved anode patterns, such as zigzags, can adequately sample the charge with a pitch comparable to the size of the charge cloud or even larger. This has the considerable advantage of providing the same performance while requiring far fewer instrumented channels. Additionally, the geometric parameters defining such zigzag structures may be tuned to provide a uniform detector response without the need for so-called pad response functions, while simultaneously maintaining excellent position resolution. We have measured the position resolution of a variety of zigzag shaped anode patterns optimized for various MPGDs, including GEM, Micromegas, and micro-RWELL and compared this performance to the same detectors equipped with straight pads of varying pitch. We report on the performance results of each readout structure, evaluated under identical conditions in a test beam.
B. Azmoun, K. Dehmelt, T. K. Hemmick, R. Majka, H. N. Nguyen, M. Phipps, M. L. Purschke, N. Ram, W. Roh, D. Shangase, N. Smirnov, C. Woody, A. Zhang
A combination Time Projection Chamber-Cherenkov prototype detector has been developed as part of the Detector R&D Program for a future Electron Ion Collider. The prototype was tested at the Fermilab test beam facility to provide a proof of principle to demonstrate that the detector is able to measure particle tracks and provide particle identification information within a common detector volume. The TPC portion consists of a 10x10x10cm3 field cage, which delivers charge from tracks to a 10x10cm2 quadruple GEM readout. Tracks are reconstructed by interpolating the hit position of clusters on an array of 2x10mm2 zigzag pads The Cherenkov component consists of a 10x10cm2 readout plane segmented into 3x3 square pads, also coupled to a quadruple GEM. As tracks pass though the drift volume of the TPC, the generated Cherenkov light is able to escape through sparsely arranged wires making up one side of the field cage, facing the CsI photocathode of the Cherenkov detector. The Cherenkov detector is thus operated in a windowless, proximity focused configuration for high efficiency. Pure CF4 is used as the working gas for both detector components, mainly due to its transparency into the deep UV, as well as its high N0. Results from the beam test, as well as results on its particle id capabilities will be discussed.
B. Azmoun, P. Garg, T. K. Hemmick, M. Hohlmann, A. Kiselev, M. L. Purschke, C. Woody, A. Zhang
A new Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is currently under development for the sPHENIX experiment at RHIC. The TPC will be read out using multistage GEM detectors on each end and will be divided into approximately 40 pad layers in radius. Each pad layer is required to provide a spatial resolution of ~250 microns, which must be achieved with a minimal channel count in order to minimize the overall cost of the detector. The current proposal is to make the pads into a zigzag shape in order to enhance charge sharing among neighboring pads. This will allow for the possibility to interpolate the hit position to high precision, resulting in a position resolution many times better than the 2mm pitch of the readout pads. This paper discusses various simulation studies that were carried out to optimize the size and shape of the zigzag pads for the readout board for the TPC, along with the technical challenges in fabricating it. It also describes the performance of the first prototype readout board obtained from measurements carried out in the laboratory using a highly collimated X-ray source.
Craig Woody, Babak Azmoun, Richard Majka, Michael Phipps, Martin Purschke, Nikolai Smirnov
A prototype detector is being developed which combines the functions of a Time Projection Chamber for charged particle tracking and a Cherenkov detector for particle identification. The TPC consists of a 10x10x10 cm3 drift volume where the charge is drifted to a 10x10 cm2 triple GEM detector. The charge is measured on a readout plane consisting of 2x10 mm2 chevron pads which provide a spatial resolution ~ 100 microns per point in the chevron direction along with dE/dx information. The Cherenkov portion of the detector consists of a second 10x10 cm2 triple GEM with a photosensitive CsI photocathode on the top layer. This detector measures Cherenkov light produced in the drift gas of the TPC by high velocity particles which are above threshold. CF4 or CF4 mixtures will be used as the drift gas which are highly transparent to UV light and can provide excellent efficiency for detecting Cherenkov photons. The drift gas is also used as the operating gas for both GEM detectors. The prototype detector has been constructed and is currently being tested in the lab with sources and cosmic rays, and additional tests are planned in the future to study the detector in a test beam.
Babak Azmoun, Aleksey Bolotnikov, Francesca Capocasa, Milind Diwan, Yimin Hu, Jay Hyun Jo, William Lenz, Yichen Li, Abdul Rumaiz, Vyara Tsvetkova, Matteo Vicenzi
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Phase-II Far Detector is considering an approximately 2000\,m$^2$ photon detection system to achieve a target mean light yield of 180\,PE/MeV. Meeting this requirement demands scalable, cost-effective, and high-quality wavelength-shifter (WLS) coatings capable of converting 127\,nm liquid-argon scintillation light into visible photons with controlled and reproducible optical performance. We report on the successful realization of an industrial physical vapor deposition (PVD) process for \textit{p}-terphenyl (pTP) coatings, adapted from vacuum deposition techniques developed for OLED display manufacturing, to produce uniform WLS layers on large-area inorganic substrates, a task traditionally challenged by adhesion and uniformity issues at organic--inorganic interfaces. Surface characterization by profilometry and spectroscopic measurements demonstrates edge-region thickness variation below 10\% and emission spectra consistent with high-quality pTP reference samples. The industrial process demonstrates reproducibility, scalability, and significantly reduced production time compared to laboratory-based methods, while maintaining optical characteristics consistent with established pTP reference samples. These results establish a viable pathway for mass production of high-performance pTP coatings for DUNE FD3 and future neutrino experiments, from a coating manufacturing and process standpoint. Detector-level performance validation, including quantitative VUV conversion efficiency measurements at 127\,nm, is identified as future work.
Aiwu Zhang, Marcus Hohlmann, Babak Azmoun, Martin L. Purschke, Craig Woody
We study the position sensitivity of radial zigzag strips intended to read out large GEM detectors for tracking at future experiments. Zigzag strips can cover a readout area with fewer strips than regular straight strips while maintaining good spatial resolution. Consequently, they can reduce the number of required electronic channels and related cost for large-area GEM detector systems. A non-linear relation between incident particle position and hit position measured from charge sharing among zigzag strips was observed in a previous study. We significantly reduce this non-linearity by improving the interleaving of adjacent physical zigzag strips. Zigzag readout structures are implemented on PCBs and on a flexible foil and are tested using a 10 cm by 10 cm triple-GEM detector scanned with a strongly collimated X-ray gun on a 2D motorized stage. Angular resolutions of60-84 urad are achieved with a 1.37 mrad angular strip pitch at a radius of 784 mm. On a linear scale this corresponds to resolutions below 100 um.