The development of a new drift chamber with a new gas mixture

Abstract

A drift chamber of 1 cm spacing incorporating parallel foils which act as field-shaping electrodes was successfully operated producing a linear space-to-drift-time ratio that will enable the determination of positions of charged-particle tracks directly from timing spectra. The results indicate that spatial resolutions of 100–150 μm can be obtained from a single chamber filled with an argon-methane-acetylene gas mixture at atmospheric pressure. A simplified construction which liminates field-shaping wires, and uniform equipotential lines in the chamber which results in uniform electron drift velocities, are the main advantages of this new design.