Mainz 2022 – scientific programme
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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne
HK 16: Instrumentation VI
HK 16.4: Talk
Monday, March 28, 2022, 16:45–17:00, HK-H5
Charge density breakdown limits in Micromegas structures — •Tobias Waldmann1, Berkin Ulukutlu1, Piotr Gasik2, Laura Fabbietti1, Thomas Klemenz1, and Lukas Lautner1 — 1Technische Universität München — 2GSI Helmholtzzentrum
Micro Mesh Gaseous Structures (Micromegas) are detectors implemented in a wide range of modern particle physics experiments. Among their major advantages are high achievable gains, good energy resolution and intrinsic ion backflow suppression. However, a major limiting factor to the performance is the formation of electrical discharges inside the amplification region, which can eventually blind or permanently damage the involved detector components. Therefore, the limits of safe operation of such detectors need to be studied in detail. In our studies we investigated the discharge stability of Micromegas with respect to different mesh geometries and gas mixtures. As in previous studies with GEMs and THGEMs, the measurements show clear evidence for charge density being a driving factor in the discharge formation process in Micromegas. This is observed through a dependence on the used gas mixture, where Neon-based mixtures with low CO2 content yield the best stability against the development of discharges. The results provide further constraints and limits for the safe operation of Micromegas-based detectors, opening up new possibilities for their optimization.