Development of a single ion detector for radiation track structure studies

The track structure of ionizing radiation predominantly determines the biological effects after irradiation. A new detector to register 3D track structure segments in low pressure gas was proposed in a previous work. The device combines the operational principle of thick gas electron multipliers (THGEM), working in reverse polarity, and resistive plate chambers. In this work, the detector was further developed. Optimization of THGEM thickness, hole pitch and cathode resistivity were studied. A new detector prototype was built and tested with a microbeam providing different radiation qualities. The detector rate capability and ion collection efficiency were also investigated. Results show that the detector efficiency increases with increasing THGEM thickness and decreasing cathode resistivity. Preliminary results show that the ion collection efficiency is low and that the detector performance is limited by a long dead time. The detector is able to register single ions with a low dark rate. However, further development is needed in order to obtain the efficiency necessary to reconstruct 3D track structure.