Micro Patterned Gas Detector Development
Group at Purdue University

Experimental High Energy Physics Lecture Series, Fall 2004

Particle Detection Techniques

Jun Miyamoto

Aug 19 to Sept 23, 2004
Time and Place (TBA)
Goal of the Lectures

Today particle physicists rely on sophisticated technologies and methods to accurately pinpoint interaction points with good timing and energy resolution. The technologies have advanced significantly since the era of bubble/spark chambers or emulsion films. Although the main task for particle physicists is to construct the best working detectors with minimum radiation damage/aging and loss time for maintenance, it is also true that there are many complicated physics involved in the working principles of the detector itself. It is often a great dilemma that active particle physicists or detector engineers do not have time to study the fundamental concepts because their everyday laboratory tests take up their whole time and a great amount of intuition is used, at significant risk, to solve many problems. I will try to demystify often misunderstood or confusing ideas that puzzle the working detector researchers.

Outline (subject to change)

1. Interaction of radiation with matter I (gas)
2. Interaction of radiation with matter II (gas)
3. A brief survey of various gas type detectors in high energy physics
4. Working principles of gas detectors (charge induction in proportional mode)
5. Associated electronics to take data
6. The latest gas detectors (GEM, MICROMEGAS etc)
7. Interaction of radiation with solid (silicon, germanium, CZT etc)
8. Charge collection mechanism in solids.
9. Numerical Methods to study solid detectors
10. TCAD code tutorial I
11. TCAD code tutorial II
12. TCAD code tutorial III

Course materials: Provided and all presentation files will be available on the web