Effect of charging-up and regular usage on performance of the triple GEM detector to be employed for plasma radiation monitoring

Abstract

• GEM detectors are developed to be applied in plasma physics with high rate capability. • Charging-up effect of the detector window material has been examined. • Characteristics of aluminized Mylar window clearly affect detector’s effective gain. • Graphene layers or DLC coatings are considered as new materials for SXR region. After the problem of high-temperature plasma confinement, construction of diagnostics that is able to identify plasma contamination with impurities and to determine impurity distribution is another critically important issue. Solution of this problem would enable progress towards the success in controlled thermonuclear fusion. A new diagnostics, based on Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology, has been recently developed for poloidal tomography focused on radiation of the metal impurities by monitoring in Soft X-Ray (SXR) region. GEM based detectors would undergo much less damage by neutrons than standard semiconductor diodes which results in better operational stability. This paper emphasizes the results of the latest examination of this type of detectors, showing influence of the charging-up effect on the detector performance and its physical properties for expected plasma radiation intensity. In addition, an undesired influence of aging of the detector window’s material on the performance of the GEM detector is also shown: regular (moderate or active) usage could lead to changes of material’s morphology as well as its composition. This study confirms the importance of further research into material’s optimization of GEM detectors used as a base for SXR tomographic diagnostics aimed to work under different plasma radiation conditions.