Progress on the PICOSEC-micromegas detector development: Towards a precise timing, radiation hard, large-scale particle detector with segmented readout

Abstract

This contribution describes the PICOSEC-Micromegas detector which achieves a time resolution below 25 ps. In this device the passage of a charged particle produces Cherenkov photons in a radiator, which then generate electrons in a photocathode and these photoelectrons enter a two-stage Micromegas with a reduced drift region and a typical anode region. The results from single-channel prototypes (demonstrating a time resolution of 24 ps for minimum ionizing particles, and 76 ps for single photoelectrons), the understanding of the detector in terms of detailed simulations and a phenomenological model, the issues of robustness and how they are tackled, and preliminary results from a multi-channel prototype are presented (demonstrating that a timing resolution similar to that of the single-channel device is feasible for all points across the area covered by a multi-channel device).