Prototype study of $0.1\%X_0$ and $MHz/c{\mathrm{m}}^2$ tolerant Resistive Plate Chamber with Diamond-Like Carbon electrodes

Abstract

A novel Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) was designed with Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) electrodes and performance studies were carried out for 384$\mu \mathrm{m}$ gap configuration with a $2\mathrm{cm}\times 2\mathrm{cm}$ prototype. The use of thin films coated with DLC enables an ultra-low mass design of $<0.1\%X_0$ with up to a four-layer configuration. At the same time, 42% MIP efficiency, and 180 ps timing resolution per layer were achieved in a measurement performed under a $1MHz/c{\mathrm{m}}^2$ non-MIP charged particle beam. In addition, we propose a further improved design for a $20\mathrm{cm}$-scale detector that can achieve 90% four-layer efficiency in an even higher $4MHz/c{\mathrm{m}}^2$ beam. In this paper, we describe the detector design, present the results of performance measurements, and characterize the rate capability of the DLC-based RPCs with a performance projection for an improved design.

8 pages