Frankfurt 2014 – scientific programme
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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne
HK 46: Poster
HK 46.84: Poster
Thursday, March 20, 2014, 16:00–18:00, HZ Poster
High-Voltage Picoamperemeter — •Andrea Bugl1, Markus Ball1, Michael Böhmer1, Sverre Dörheim1, Andreas Hönle1, Igor Konorov1, and Bernhard Ketzer1,2 — 1Technische Universität München, Garching — 2Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, Bonn
Current measurements in the nano- and picoampere region on high voltage are an important tool to understand charge transfer processes in micropattern gas detectors like the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM). They are currently used to e.g. optimize the field configuration in a multi-GEM stack to be used in the ALICE TPC after the upgrade of the experiment during the 2nd long shutdown of the LHC.
Devices which allow measurements down to 1pA at high voltage up to 6kV have been developed at TU München. They are based on analog current measurements via the voltage drop over a switchable shunt. A microcontroller collects 128 digital ADC values and calculates their mean and standard deviation. This information is sent with a wireless transmitting unit to a computer and stored in a root file. A nearly unlimited number of devices can be operated simultaneously and read out by a single receiver. The results can also be displayed on a LCD directly at the device. Battery operation and the wireless readout are important to protect the user from any contact to high voltage.
The principle of the device will be explained and systematic studies of their properties will be shown.
Supported by the DFG Cluster of Excellence "Universe" and the EU 7th framework program.