MicroMegas detector

The MicroMegas detector (Micro-Mesh Gaseous Structure) is a gaseous particle detector and an advancement of the wire chamber. Invented in 1996 by Georges Charpak and Ioannis Giomataris, [1] Micromegas detectors are mainly used in experimental physics, in particular in particle physics, nuclear physics and astrophysics for the detection of ionizing particles.

A Micromegas detector in function on the COMPASS spectrometer

Micromegas detectors are used to detect passing charged particles and obtain properties such as position, arrival time and momentum. The advantage of the Micromegas technology a high gain of 104 while operating with small response times in the order of 100 ns. This is realized by dividing the gas chamber with a microscopic mesh, which makes the Micromegas detector a micropattern gaseous detector. In order to minimize the perturbation on the impinging particle, the detector is just a few millimeters thick. [2]

  1. ^ Giomataris, Y.; Rebourgeard, Ph.; Robert, J.P.; Charpak, G. (1996). "MICROMEGAS: a high-granularity position-sensitive gaseous detector for high particle-flux environments". Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 376 (1): 29–35. Bibcode:1996NIMPA.376...29G. doi:10.1016/0168-9002(96)00175-1.
  2. ^ J.P. Cussonneau et al./Nucl. Instr. and Meth. in Phys. Res. A 419 (1998) 452—459