D. Bettoni

Drift chambers with controlled charge collection geometry for the NA34/Helios experiment

Abstract We report on the design and performance of a set of drift chambers for the NA34/HELIOS experiment at the CERN-SPS. The chambers are operated with CO2 at low drift velocity and have a field geometry allowing a controllable track sample length and isochronous charge collection. In beam tests using a silicon microstrip hodoscope as external track reference, we measure a two-track separation of 600 μm and, at a drift velocity of 8.9 μm/ns, an absolute single track percision of 60 μ on average the total drift distance of 20 mm. The influence of the track sample length on the chamber performance is studied and a value of 2.5–3.0 mm is found as an optimum.

Prototype tests of two controlled geometry drift chambers

Abstract This report presents results on the performance of two new drift chamber geometries, which were optimized for space resolution and two-track separation. The best performance requires isochronous drift collection, low electron diffusion, and careful signal shaping. The role of the mobility of electrons and positive ions is emphasized. We tested two geometries, and at a gas pressure of 1 atm we found σ ⋍ 60–70 μ m for the single-track resolution and Δ ⋍ 600 μ m for the two-track separation.