First Operation of a Resistive Shell Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber: A New Approach to Electric-Field Shaping
by
Roman Berner 1,*
, Yifan Chen 1, Antonio Ereditato 1, Patrick P. Koller 1, Igor Kreslo 1, David Lorca 1, Thomas Mettler 1, Ting Miao 2, Francesco Piastra 1, James R. Sinclair 1 and Michael S. Weber 1
Roman Berner 1,*, Yifan Chen 1, Antonio Ereditato 1, Patrick P. Koller 1, Igor Kreslo 1, David Lorca 1, Thomas Mettler 1, Ting Miao 2, Francesco Piastra 1, James R. Sinclair 1 and Michael S. Weber 1
1
Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Laboratory for High Energy Physics, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
2
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Instruments 2019, 3(2), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments3020028
Received: 2 April 2019 / Revised: 6 May 2019 / Accepted: 7 May 2019 / Published: 9 May 2019
(This article belongs to the Collection Selected Papers from Instruments’ Editorial Board Members)
We present a new technology for the shaping of the electric field in Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) using a carbon-loaded polyimide foil. This technology allows for the minimisation of passive material near the active volume of the TPC and, thus, is capable to reduce background events originating from radioactive decays or scattering on the material itself. Furthermore, the high and continuous electric resistivity of the foil limits the power dissipation per unit area and minimizes the risks of damages in the case of an electric field breakdown. Replacing the conventional field cage with a resistive plastic film structure called “shell” decreases the number of components within the TPC and, therefore, reduces the potential points of failure when operating the detector. A prototype liquid argon (LAr) TPC with such a resistive shell and with a cathode made of the same material was successfully tested for long-term operation with electric field values up to . The experiment shows that it is feasible to successfully produce and shape the electric field in liquefied noble-gas detectors with this new technology.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Berner, R.; Chen, Y.; Ereditato, A.; Koller, P.P.; Kreslo, I.; Lorca, D.; Mettler, T.; Miao, T.; Piastra, F.; Sinclair, J.R.; Weber, M.S. First Operation of a Resistive Shell Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber: A New Approach to Electric-Field Shaping. Instruments 2019, 3, 28.
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