Demonstrator Detection System for the Active Target and Time Projection Chamber (ACTAR TPC) project

T. Roger (1) , J. Pancin (1) , G.F. Grinyer (1) , B. Mauss (1) , A.T. Laffoley (1) , P. Rosier (2) , H. Alvarez-Pol , M. Babo (1) , B. Blank (3) , M. Caamaño , S. Ceruti , J. Daemen , S. Damoy (1) , B. Duclos (1) , B. Fernandez-Dominguez , F. Flavigny (2) , J. Giovinazzo (3) , T. Goigoux (3) , J.L. Henares (1) , P. Konczykowski , T. Marchi , G. Lebertre (1) , N. Lecesne (1) , L. Legeard (1) , C. Maugeais (1) , G. Minier (2) , B. Osmond (1) , J.L. Pedroza (3) , J. Pibernat (3) , O. Poleshchuk , E.C. Pollacco (4) , R. Raabe , B. Raine (1) , F. Renzi , F. Saillant (1) , P. Sénécal (1) , P. Sizun (4) , D. Suzuki (2) , J.A. Swartz , C. Wouters , G. Wittwer (1) , J.C. Yang

1 GANIL - Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds
2 IPNO - Institut de Physique Nucléaire d'Orsay
3 CENBG - Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
4 IRFU - Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers

The design, realization and operation of a prototype or “demonstrator” version of an active target and time projection chamber (ACTAR TPC) for experiments in nuclear physics is presented in detail. The heart of the detection system features a micromegas gas amplifier coupled to a high-density pixelated pad plane with square pad sizes of 2  ×  2 mm 2 . The detector has been thoroughly tested with several different gas mixtures over a wide range of pressures and using a variety of sources of ionizing radiation including laser light, an α -particle source and heavy-ion beams of   24 Mg and   58 Ni accelerated to energies of 4.0 MeV/u. Results from these tests and characterization of the detector response over a wide range of operating conditions will be described. These developments have served as the basis for the design of a larger detection system that is presently under construction.

Mots clés: Active target; Time projection chamber; micromegas; Nuclear physics

Domaines: Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

T. Roger, J. Pancin, G.F. Grinyer, B. Mauss, A.T. Laffoley, et al.. Demonstrator Detection System for the Active Target and Time Projection Chamber (ACTAR TPC) project. Nucl.Instrum.Meth.A, 2018, 895, pp.126-134. ⟨10.1016/j.nima.2018.04.003⟩. ⟨hal-01781925⟩