Speaker
Description
A detector sensitive to low-energy ions is under development for applications requiring high sensitivity to weak ionization signals, including space plasma studies, fusion plasma diagnostics, and direct dark matter searches. The instrument is based on bulk resistive MICROMEGAS technology, a micro-pattern gaseous detector widely employed in high-energy physics and capable of measuring deposited energy with good resolution. Operation at low gas pressure allows light ions in the few-keV range to propagate over millimetric distances, providing access to spatial ionization information and enabling impact point determination and track reconstruction.
This contribution presents recent results on the reconstruction of ion impact points and incident tracks for light ions measured at several energies and angles of incidence. A dedicated readout chain based on custom discrete front-end electronics has been developed to achieve an optimal signal-to-noise ratio, enabling detailed studies of charge collection and signal induction on the strips of the anodic plane.
These results are compared with measurements performed using the VMM3a ASIC, a multichannel front-end technology widely employed in high-energy physics experiments. For this configuration, the acquisition parameters were optimized to maximize the number of reconstructed events under low signal-to-noise conditions, with fine-tuned threshold settings and external trigger-driven readout to reduce data volume.
Reliable impact point reconstruction is demonstrated over a wide range of operating conditions, validating MICROMEGAS as an effective technology for low-energy ion detection and establishing a solid foundation for the development of low-pressure gaseous detectors in ion-based applications.
| Name of the speaker | Andrea Foresi |
|---|---|
| Eligible for the Georges Charpak Young Scientist Award. | yes |