Speaker
Description
Muon scattering tomography is a non-destructive evaluation technique used to probe the structure and composition of static objects, with wide-ranging applications in civil, industrial, and nuclear engineering, as well as in homeland security. The method relies on measuring the scattering of cosmic muons by reconstructing the tracks from the hit information collected from tracking detector layers. Thus information about the density, atomic number and shape of the objects can be extracted.
For real-field applications, the technique requires precise muon tracking over a large coverage area, combined with portability and environmentally safe operation. Thick Gas Electron Multiplier (THGEM) detectors emerge as a promising option due to their robust design, relative ease of fabrication, good position resolution, and high detection efficiency.
In this work, a systematic study has been conducted to optimize the performance of THGEM prototypes for cosmic muon detection. The potential benefits of multi-stage configurations in improving detector performance have also been investigated. The variation of gain with different combinations of drift, induction, and multiplication fields has been measured for both single and double-layer operation. The experimental data has been compared with the detector simulation results. Simulation has been performed in Garfield++ with imported electric field values from COMSOL Multiphysics Software, transport properties using MAGBOLTZ, and primary ionisation using HEED. The cosmic muon detection efficiency has been evaluated as a function of THGEM voltage in both configurations, yielding maximum efficiencies of 99% for the single layer and 99.5% for the double layer, both under stable operating conditions. In addition, the position resolution of the detector has been measured for single-layer operation. Although the final analysis is ongoing, preliminary results shows a resolution better than 0.2 mm.
| Position | Senior Research Fellow |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics |
| Country | India |