Optical readout of secondary scintillation from liquid argon generated by a thick gas electron multiplier

Abstract

For the first time secondary scintillation, generated within the holes of a thick gas electron multiplier (TGEM) immersed in liquid argon, has been observed and measured using a silicon photomultiplier device (SiPM). 250 electron-ion pairs, generated in liquid argon via the interaction of a 5.9KeV Fe-55 gamma source, were drifted under the influence of a 2.5KV/cm field towards a 1.5mm thickness TGEM, the local field sufficiently high to generate secondary scintillation light within the liquid as the charge traversed the central region of the TGEM hole. The resulting VUV light was incident on an immersed SiPM device coated in the waveshifter tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), the emission spectrum peaked at 460nm in the high quantum efficiency region of the device. For a SiPM over-voltage of 1V, a TGEM voltage of 9.91KV, and a drift field of 2.5KV/cm, a total of 62 20 photoelectrons were produced at the SiPM device per Fe-55 event, corresponding to an estimated gain of 150 66 photoelectrons per drifted electron. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.