Optical Readout of a Two Phase Liquid Argon TPC using CCD Camera and THGEMs

Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary study into the use of CCDs to image secondary scintillation light generated by THick Gas Electron Multipliers (THGEMs) in a two phase LAr TPC. A Sony ICX285AL CCD chip was mounted above a double THGEM in the gas phase of a 40 litre two-phase LAr TPC with the majority of the camera electronics positioned externally via a feedthrough. An Am-241 source was mounted on a rotatable motion feedthrough allowing the positioning of the alpha source either inside or outside of the field cage. Developed for and incorporated into the TPC design was a novel high voltage feedthrough featuring LAr insulation. Furthermore, a range of webcams were tested for operation in cryogenics as an internal detector monitoring tool. Of the range of webcams tested the Microsoft HD-3000 (model no:1456) webcam was found to be superior in terms of noise and lowest operating temperature. In ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure 1 ppm pure argon gas, the THGEM gain was approximately 1000 and using a 1 msec exposure the CCD captured single alpha tracks. Successful operation of the CCD camera in two-phase cryogenic mode was also achieved. Using a 10 sec exposure a photograph of secondary scintillation light induced by the Am-241 source in LAr has been captured for the first time.

The acronym TGEM was changed to THGEM. Typos in text and figures were corrected. References were added

References in corpus (10)

• The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) Experiment
• A concise review on THGEM detectors
• Liquid noble gas detectors for low energy particle physics
• First limits on WIMP nuclear recoil signals in ZEPLIN-II: a two phase xenon detector for dark matter detection
• Underground Neutrino Detectors for Particle and Astroparticle Science: the Giant Liquid Argon Charge Imaging ExpeRiment (GLACIER)
• Experiments For CP-Violation: A Giant Liquid Argon Scintillation, Cerenkov And Charge Imaging Experiment ?
• Optical readout tracking detector concept using secondary scintillation from liquid argon generated by a thick gas electron multiplier
• Direct observation of avalanche scintillations in a THGEM-based two-phase Ar avalanche detector using Geiger-mode APD
• First operation and drift field performance of a large area double phase LAr Electron Multiplier Time Projection Chamber with an immersed Greinacher high-voltage multiplier
• The ArDM project: a Liquid Argon TPC for Dark Matter Detection

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Revealing neutral bremsstrahlung in two-phase argon electroluminescence
• The CYGNO Experiment
• Performance study of the effective gain of the double phase liquid Argon LEM Time Projection Chamber
• Review of Liquid Argon Detector Technologies in the Neutrino Sector
• Electroluminescence and electron avalanching in two-phase detectors
• First demonstration of 3D optical readout of a TPC using a single photon sensitive Timepix3 based camera
• The Thick Gas Electron Multiplier and its derivatives: physics, technologies and applications
• ARIADNE -- A Novel Optical LArTPC: Technical Design Report and Initial Characterisation using a Secondary Beam from the CERN PS and Cosmic Muons
• The science and technology of liquid argon detectors
• Novel electron and photon recording concepts in noble-liquid detectors
• First Demonstration of Imaging Cosmic Muons in a Two-Phase Liquid Argon TPC using an EMCCD Camera and a THGEM
• Cryogenic CMOS Cameras for High Voltage Monitoring in Liquid Argon
• First Demonstration of the Use of LG-SiPMs for Optical Readout of a TPC