Micromegas operation in high pressure xenon: charge and scintillation readout

Understand

The operational characteristics of a Micromegas operating in pure xenon at the pressure range of 1 to 10 bar are investigated.

• The maximum charge gain achieved in each pressure is approximately constant, around 4x10^2, for xenon pressures up to 5 bar and decreasing slowly above this pressure down to values somewhat above 10^2 at 10 bar.
• The MM presents the highest gains for xenon pressures above 4 bar, when compared to other micropattern gaseous multipliers.
• The lowest energy resolution obtained for X-rays of 22.1 keV exhibits a steady increase with pressure, from 12% at 1bar to about 32% at 10 bar.