Characterization of 3 mm Glass Electrodes and Development of RPC Detectors for $INO-ICAL$ Experiment

TL;DR

This paper investigates the material and electrical properties of 3 mm glass electrodes and evaluates RPC detector performance for the INO-ICAL neutrino experiment, focusing on optimizing detector parameters for large-scale deployment.

Contribution

It provides detailed characterization of locally available glass electrodes and assesses their impact on RPC performance under various environmental conditions.

Findings

Optimal glass electrode properties identified for RPCs.

Gas composition and temperature significantly affect detector performance.

Guidelines for material selection and environmental conditions for INO-ICAL RPCs.

Abstract

India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a multi-institutional facility, planned to be built up in South India. The INO facility will host a 51 kton magnetized Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector to study atmospheric muon neutrinos. Iron plates have been chosen as the target material whereas Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) have been chosen as the active detector element for the ICAL experiment. Due to the large number of RPCs needed ($\sim$ 28,000 of $2~m \times 2~m$ in size) for ICAL experiment and for the long lifetime of the experiment, it is necessary to perform a detailed $R\&D$ such that each and every parameter of the detector performance can be optimized to improve the physics output. In this paper, we report on the detailed material and electrical properties studies for various types of glass electrodes available locally. We also report on the performance studies carried out on the RPCs made with these electrodes as well as the effect of gas composition and environmental temperature on the detector performance. We also lay emphasis on the usage of materials for RPC electrodes and the suitable enviormental conditions applicable for operating the RPC detector for optimal physics output at INO-ICAL experiment.