Thick GEM-like (THGEM) detectors and their possible applications

Abstract

Thick GEM-like (THGEM) electrodes are robust, high gain gaseous electron multipliers, economically-manufactured by standard drilling and etching of thin printed circuit board or other materials. Their operation and structure are similar to that of standard GEMs but with 5 to 20-fold expanded dimensions. Due to the larger hole dimensions they provide up to 10^5 and 10^7 charge multiplication, in a single- and in two-electrode cascade, respectively. The signal rise time is of a few ns and the counting-rate capability approaches 10 MHz/mm^2 at 10^4 gains. Sub-mm localization precision was demonstrated with a simple, delay-line based 2D readout scheme. These multipliers may be produced in a variety of shapes and sizes and can operate in many gases. They may replace the standard GEMs in many applications requiring very large area, robust, flat, thin detectors, with good timing and counting-rate properties and modest localization. The properties of these multipliers are presented in short and possible applications are discussed.