Elemental Analysis of Glass and Bakelite Electrodes Using PIXE Facility

TL;DR

This study uses PIXE to analyze the elemental composition of glass and bakelite electrodes used in RPC detectors, providing essential material characterization for long-term high-energy physics experiments.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed PIXE-based elemental analysis of locally sourced glass and bakelite electrodes for RPC detectors.

Findings

Identified constituent elements in glass and bakelite electrodes

Provided elemental composition data relevant for detector durability

Enhanced understanding of electrode material properties

Abstract

The evolution of particle detectors dates back to the discovery of X-rays and radioactivity in 1890s. In detector history, the Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) are introduced in early 1980s. An RPC is a gaseous detector made up of two parallel electrodes having high resistivity like that of glass and bakelite. Currently several high energy physics experiments are using RPC-based detector system due to robustness and simplicity of construction. In each and every experiment, RPCs have to run continuously for several years. So, it demands an in-depth characterization of the electrode materials. In the present study, an elemental analysis of locally available glass and bakelite samples is done using PIXE facility available at Panjab University Cyclotron, Chandigarh. PIXE measurements are done using 2.7 MeV proton beam incident on the electrode sample target. The constituent elements present in these electrode samples are reported.