Microstrip Gas Chambers on glass and ceramic substrates

摘要

We report developments of Microstrip Gas Chambers (MSGC) fabricated on glass and ceramic substrates with various resistivities. Low resistivity of the substrate is found to be critical for achieving stable operation of microstrip gas chambers. The microstrip pattern consists of 10 (mu)m wide anodes and 90 (mu)m wide cathodes with a 200 (mu)m anode-to-anode pitch. High-quality microstrips are fabricated using the dry etch after UV-photolithography. Our chambers are tested in an Ar(90)-CH(sub 4)(10) gas mixture at atmospheric pressure with a 100 (mu)Ci (sup 55)Fe source. An energy resolution (FWHM) of 15% has been achieved for 6 keV soft X-rays. At a rate of 5 (times) 10(sup 4) photons/sec/mm(sup 2), gas gains are stable within a few percents. Long-term tests of gain stability and rate capability are yet to be pursued.