Measurement of ion backflow fraction in GEM detectors

TL;DR

This paper systematically measures ion backflow fractions in GEM detectors, analyzing effects of voltage configurations and gas mixtures, and compares single and quadruple GEM setups to optimize detector performance.

Contribution

It provides new detailed measurements of ion backflow fractions under various conditions and compares different GEM configurations for improved detector design.

Findings

Lower drift fields reduce ion backflow fraction.

Minimum ion backflow of 3.0-3.8% achieved with quadruple GEMs and specific gas mixtures.

Effective gain and ion backflow are consistent across measurement methods.

Abstract

A systematic study is performed to measure the ion backflow fraction of the GEM detectors. The effects of different voltage configurations and Ar/CO_2 gas mixtures, in ratios of 70:30, 80:20 and 90:10, on positive ion fraction are investigated in detail. Moreover, a comparative study is performed between single and quadruple GEM detectors.The ion current with detector effective gain is measured with various field configurations and with three proportions of gas mixtures. The ion backflow fraction for the GEM is substantially reduced with the lower drift field. A minimum ion backflow fraction of 18 % is achieved in the single GEM detector with Ar/CO_2 80:20 gas mixture, however, a minimum ion backflow fraction of 3.5 %, 3.0%, and 3.8 % are obtained for a drift field of 0.1kV/cm with Ar/CO_2 70:30, 80:20 and 90:10 gas mixtures, respectively for quadrupole GEM detector. Similar values of effective gain and ion backflow fraction have been found by calculating the current from pulse height spectrum method, obtained in the Multi Channel Analyser.