Numerical study of space charge electric field inside Resistive Plate Chamber

Abstract

Resistive plate chamber (RPC) is one of the state-of-the-art particle detection technology for the High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. The basic operating mechanism of an RPC involves ionization of gas due to the passage of charged particles followed by electron transport, avalanche, and subsequent electromagnetic induction on readout strips due to the movement of the electrons and ions. Especially during streamer mode of operation, the electric field applied to the RPC can get significantly modified due to the presence of a large number of electrons and ions. In this study, we have worked on dominant issues related to the estimation of the electric field due to the space charge arising out of the presence of electrons, ions within an RPC. For this purpose, we have considered two approaches: representation of the space charge cloud as (a) a collection of ring charges, and (b) as a collection of line charges. The results from these different methods have been compared with the results available in the literature.