Microhexcavity Plasma Panel Detectors for High Energy Physics

该奖项为一个由一名 PI、一名高级同事、一名技术人员和两名本科生组成的团队提供支持，以使用类似于平面“等离子”电视显示器中使用的技术来开发一种新型粒子探测器。 这些显示器使用小型密封电池，其中含有可保持电荷的气体。 在此应用中，电荷将由穿过气室的带电粒子激发，并且可以通过电子方式感测。 哪些细胞已带电的身份提供了粒子的空间信息。 初步测试表明，这些设备将有可能在十亿分之一秒内检测到粒子，并且电池的尺寸可以约为十分之一毫米。 利用平板电视商业供应商的经验，人们希望这些探测器能够比当今其他粒子物理仪器中使用的探测器更大、更便宜。 这些探测器可能会在医学或其他对带电粒子跟踪感兴趣的领域得到应用。 这些和其他粒子物理应用也将在公共传播中进行讨论。 电子和制造技术的基本技能将传授给来自美国密歇根州立大学的本科生，他们有机会参与该项目。 拟议的研发计划将允许分三个阶段开发原型设备，其设计分辨率小于 100 微米（空间）和 1 纳秒（时间）。 该奖项涵盖了这项工作的第一部分，即前两个阶段的完成，提供了比此大大约两倍（空间）的解决方案。

This award provides support for a group with one PI, a senior colleague, a technician and two undergraduate students to work on a new kind of particle detector using a technology similar to that used in flat screen "plasma" television displays. These displays use small hermetically sealed cells containing a gas that can hold electric charge. In this application, the charge will be stimulated by the passage of charged particles passing through the gas cells and can be sensed electronically. The identity of which cells have been charged provides the spatial information on the particles. Preliminary tests suggest that it will be possible for these devices to detect particles in a billionth of a second and that cells can be made with a size of about one tenth of a millimeter. Using experience from commercial providers of flat screen televisions, it is hoped that these detectors can be larger and cheaper than the types in use in other particle physics instruments today. These detectors may find application in the medical or other communities interested in charged particle tracking. These and other particle physics applications will also be discussed in public dissemination. Basic skills in electronics and fabrication techniques will be passed along to undergraduates from U. Michigan State who have the opportunity to work on this project. The proposed R&D plan will allow the development, in three phases, of a prototype device performing at the design resolution of less than 100 micron (spatial) and 1 nanosecond (in time). This award covers the first part of this effort, the completion of the first two phases, providing a resolution of about a factor two (spatially) larger than this.