Study of the PICOSEC-Micromegas Detector with Test Beam Data and Phenomenological Modelling of its Response

In this work, a part of the Research and Development effort of the PICOSEC detector is presented. The PICOSEC detector is a novel gas-filled detector, based on the Micromegas detector, which has been developed by the RD-51 PICOSEC collaboration. Instead of relying on traditional direct ionization, the PICOSEC detector takes advantage of the prompt timing characteristics of Cherenkov radiation by converting the Cherenkov photons into electrons through the use of a photocathode. The detector has been put into two type of tests where experimental data are collected. One involves a laser beam and a single photoelectron response at CEA-SACLAY, while the other involves a test beam of 150 GeV muons at the CERN SPS H4 secondary beamline, with multiple photoelectrons. The methods employed in the statistical analysis of the detector's timing properties are summarized and in their application an optimal time resolution of 76 ps is achieved for single photoelectrons. A strange dependence of the mean timing on the size of the electron peak is observed, which mimics the behaviour of the "time walk" effect. A simulation of the detector is developed to study the timing properties, which is also the main scope of the thesis. After a detailed investigation, it is found that the electrons in the gaseous mixture move with a different drift velocity before and after the first multiplication, introducing this "time walk" effect, and a phenomenological explanation of this effect is provided. Finally, a maximum likelihood statistical method for the estimation of the mean number of photoelectron extracted per particle is developed and an optimal time resolution of 24 ps is achieved with a mean number of photoelectrons per particle equal to 10.4. In this work, a deep understanding is acquired on a new detector which has brought upon unprecedented results in the field of gas-filled detectors.

K. Paraschou · 2020