Abstract
Abstract
Photoelectron signal amplification in gas photomultipliers (GPMs) is achieved through
charge avalanche development in the holes of a cascade of hole-type microperforated foils. When a
voltage difference is applied between the metal film electrodes that are deposited on both
surfaces of those foils, an electric field with a high intensity is established inside the
holes. As a consequence, each electron entering those holes produces an electron avalanche that
emerges from the other side of the holes. A cascade of few foils is necessary for a single primary
electron to produce a final avalanche intense enough to be read out, in the anode electrode, above
the electronic noise. We propose the Photon Induced Scintillation Amplifier (PISA), where the
photoelectron signal amplification is obtained by reading out the photon scintillation produced in
the charge avalanches of solely one Micro-Hole-and-Strip-Plate-type microstructure with SiPMs. The
optical readout has the advantage of having the extra gain from the photosensor and is less
sensitive to electronic noise. A large photosensor gain produces large output signals that can
travel over long distances without significant degradation. This allows for the readout
electronics to be placed away from the photosensor and, thus, from the detector sensitive
volume. The scintillation readout plane can be made of a 2D-array of SiPMs, with size and pitch in
accordance with the needed scintillation level and position resolution. A first basic prototype
was assembled to present a proof-of-principle of the PISA concept.