A new design of the gaseous imaging detector: Micro Pixel Chamber

The novel gaseous detector "Micro Pixel Chamber (Micro PIC)" has been developed for X-ray, gamma-ray and charged particle imaging. This detector consists of double sided printing circuit board (PCB). The stable operation of Micro PIC is realized by thick substrate and wide anode strips. One of the most outstanding feature is the process of production and the cost. The base technology of producing Micro PIC is same as producing PCB, then detector with large detection area (more than 10 cm. x 10 cm) can be made by present technology. Our first tests were performed using 3 cm x 3 cm detection area with a readout of 0.4 mm pitch. The gas gain and stability were measured in these tests. The gas gain of 10(4) was obtained using argon ethane (8:2) gas mixture. Also, there was no discharge between anodes and cathodes in the gain of 10(3) during two days of continuous operation. Although some discharges occurred in the higher gain (approximately 10(4)), no critical damage on the detector was found. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.