Sub-25 ps timing measurements with 10 × 10 cm 2 PICOSEC Micromegas detectors

M. Lisowska (1, 2) , J. Bortfeldt (3) , F. Brunbauer (1) , G. Fanourakis (4) , K.J. Floethner (5, 1) , M. Gallinaro (6) , F. Garcia (7) , I. Giomataris (8) , T. Gustavsson (9, 10) , F.J. Iguaz (8) , D. Janssens (1) , A. Kallitsopoulou (8) , M. Kovacic (11) , P. Legou (8) , J. Liu (12) , M. Lupberger (5) , I. Maniatis (13) , Y. Meng (12) , H. Muller (5) , E. Oliveri (1) , G. Orlandini (14) , T. Papaevangelou (8) , Michal Pomorski (15) , L. Ropelewski (1) , D. Sampsonidis (13) , L. Scharenberg (5) , T. Schneider (1) , L. Sohl (8) , M. van Stenis (1) , Y. Tsipolitis (16) , S.E. Tzamarias (13) , A. Utrobicic (1) , R. Veenhof (1) , X. Wang (12) , S. White (17) , Z. Zhang (12) , Y. Zhou (12)

1 CERN [Genève]
2 Université Paris-Saclay
3 LMU - Ludwig-Maximilians University [Munich]
4 NCSR - National Center for Scientific Research "Demokritos"
5 University of Bonn
6 University of Lisboa
7 Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
8 IRFU - Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers
9 LIDyl - Laboratoire Interactions, Dynamiques et Lasers (ex SPAM)
10 DICO - Dynamique et Interactions en phase Condensée
11 University of Zagreb
12 USTC - University of Science and Technology of China [Hefei]
13 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14 FAU - Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
15 LCD-LIST - Laboratoire Capteurs Diamant
16 NTUA - National Technical University of Athens [Athens]
17 University of Virginia

The PICOSEC Micromegas detector is a precise timing gaseous detector based on a Cherenkov radiator coupled to a semi-transparent photocathode and a Micromegas amplifying structure. First single-pad prototypes demonstrated a time resolution below  = 25 ps, however, to make the concept appropriate to physics applications, several developments are required. The objective of this work was to achieve an equivalent time resolution for a 10 × 10 cm area PICOSEC Micromegas detector. The prototype was designed, produced and tested in the laboratory and successfully operated with a 80 GeV/c muon beam. Preliminary results for this device equipped with a CsI photocathode demonstrated a time resolution below  = 25 ps for all measured pads. The time resolution was reduced to be below  = 18 ps by decreasing the drift gap to 180 m and using dedicated RF amplifier cards as new electronics. The excellent timing performance of the single-channel proof of concept was not only transferred to the 100-channel prototype, but even improved, making the PICOSEC Micromegas detector more suitable for large-area experiments in need of detectors with high time resolutions.

Keywords: instrumentation; detector; PICOSEC Micromegas detector; Electronic architecture

Domains: Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det]

M. Lisowska, J. Bortfeldt, F. Brunbauer, G. Fanourakis, K.J. Floethner, et al.. Sub-25 ps timing measurements with 10 × 10 cm 2 PICOSEC Micromegas detectors. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 2022, pp.167687. ⟨10.1016/j.nima.2022.167687⟩. ⟨cea-03844611⟩