Development of the MICROMEGAS detector for measuring the energy spectrum of alpha particles by using a 241Am source

Abstract

We have developed MICROMEGAS (MICRO MEsh GASeous) detectors for detecting {\alpha} particles emitted from an 241-Am standard source. The voltage applied to the ionization region of the detector is optimized for stable operation at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The energy of {\alpha} particles from the 241-Am source can be varied by changing the flight path of the {\alpha} particle from the 241 Am source. The channel numbers of the experimentally-measured pulse peak positions for different energies of the {\alpha} particles are associated with the energies deposited by the alpha particles in the ionization region of the detector as calculated by using GEANT4 simulations; thus, the energy calibration of the MICROMEGAS detector for {\alpha} particles is done. For the energy calibration, the thickness of the ionization region is adjusted so that {\alpha} particles may completely stop in the ionization region and their kinetic energies are fully deposited in the region. The efficiency of our MICROMEGAS detector for {\alpha} particles under the present conditions is found to be ~ 97.3 %.