The plasma panel sensor (PPS) is an inherently digital, high gain, novel variant of micropattern gas detectors inspired by many operational and fabrication principles common to plasma display panels (PDPs). The PPS is comprised of a dense array of sm
all, plasma discharge, gas cells within a hermetically-sealed glass panel, and is assembled from non-reactive, intrinsically radiation-hard materials such as glass substrates, metal electrodes and mostly inert gas mixtures. We are developing the technology to fabricate these devices with very low mass and small thickness, using gas gaps of at least a few hundred micrometers. Our tests with these devices demonstrate a spatial resolution of about 1 mm. We intend to make PPS devices with much smaller cells and the potential for much finer position resolutions. Our PPS tests also show response times of several nanoseconds. We report here our results in detecting betas, cosmic-ray muons, and our first proton beam tests.
The plasma panel sensor is an ionizing photon and particle radiation detector derived from PDP technology with high gain and nanosecond response. Experimental results in detecting cosmic ray muons and beta particles from radioactive sources are descr
ibed along with applications including high energy and nuclear physics, homeland security and cancer therapeutics
A new radiation sensor derived from plasma panel display technology is introduced. It has the capability to detect ionizing and non-ionizing radiation over a wide energy range and the potential for use in many applications. The principle of operation is described and some early results presented.
