Advances in the concept, layout, and construction of a Hybrid Plane Ionization Chamber for Photonic and Ionization Channel Cosmic Ray Detection.*

We discuss novel approaches to the layout, elaboration, and fabrication of a hybrid plane ionization chamber (HPIC) for enhanced detection performance in photonic and ionization channels for academic purposes.

The principle of operation of a Plane Ionization Chamber consists of ionizing the gas between two plates.  The novelty of the design lies in that one of the plates serves as the ground plane while the other supplies the voltage and picks the signal with the proper electronics circuitry.  At the same time, ionization in the gas is monitored when a  photon  is picked at the SIMP with also the proper electronics attached to the system. This device allows also a coincidence detection system in both channels (ionization and photonic).

Combining photonic and ionization detection techniques in a single chamber presents a fresh approach to improve students understanding  of the passage of radiation thru matter and it's interactions. This original HPIC has been designed by J. Félix  for educational purposes. The chamber is intended to be a low-cost prototype that undergraduate students will assemble and run.  In november 2023, over 25 students assembled a plane ionization chamber and presented in the event QUANTA2023 at Universidad de Guanajuato in Léon, Guanajuato, México.

 The effective plane detection area  is set at 9x9cm, of a plated copper PCB contained in a plastic extrusion enclosure, designed and manufactured  at the International Elementary Particle Laboratory. The appropriate electronics for High Voltage supply, signal detection in the ionization channel, and signal detection from the phonic channel (using a Hamamatsu silicon photomultiplier diode) are situated at the extremes of the chamber, avoiding interference with the detecting plane.

It is intended to be used with air or a gas combination, with supply tubes already fitted in the chamber. Two distinct designs, one with bare copper plates and one with solder covered plates, have been tried. The gas gap is configured to be multiples of 2mm so that we can test various layers of gas and the device's efficiency.

When voltages of around 900V are applied to the chamber, signals corresponding to the incidence of cosmic ray radiation are observed.