A novel large-volume Spherical Detector with Proportional Amplification read-out

TL;DR

This paper introduces a spherical gas detector with a central proportional amplification sensor, achieving high gas gains, low energy thresholds, and promising applications in neutrino physics and dark matter detection.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel spherical detector design with a central amplification sensor enabling high gains and operation at various pressures, suitable for low-energy particle detection.

Findings

Achieved sub-keV energy threshold with good resolution.

Demonstrated high gas gains and stable operation.

Potential applications in neutrino physics and dark matter detection.

Abstract

A new type of radiation detector based on a spherical geometry is presented. The detector consists of a large spherical gas volume with a central electrode forming a radial electric field. Charges deposited in the conversion volume drift to the central sensor where they are amplified and collected. We introduce a small spherical sensor located at the center acting as a proportional amplification structure. It allows high gas gains to be reached and operates in a wide range of gas pressures. Signal development and the absolute amplitude of the response are consistent with predictions. Sub-keV energy threshold with good energy resolution is achieved. This new concept has been proven to operate in a simple and robust way and allows reading large volumes with a single read-out channel. The detector performance presently achieved is already close to fulfill the demands of many challenging projects from low energy neutrino physics to dark matter detection with applications in neutron, alpha and gamma spectroscopy.