Preface . . x
Acknowledgment . . xix
Introduction . . xx

Chapter 1 - The Physics of Operation of Gaseous Detectors and their Main Designs . . 1
1. INTRODUCTION: ELECTRON MULTIPLIERS . . 1
2. CREATION OF PRIMARY ELECTRONS INSIDE GASEOUS DETECTORS BY CHARGED PARTICLES . . 2
3. CREATION OF PRIMARY ELECTRONS IN GASEOUS DETECTORS BY ENERGETIC PHOTONS . . 4
4. DIFFUSION . . 10
5. AVALANCHE MULTIPLICATION . . 12
6. TRADITIONAL GASEOUS DETECTORS . . 15
7. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 26
8. DISCHARGES IN GASEOUS DETECTORS . . 26

Chapter 2 - Microstrip Gas Counters . . 31
1. INTRODUCTION . . 31
2. MICROSTRIPGAS COUNTERS MANUFACTURING . . 32
3. DISCHARGES IN MSGCS . . 33
4. CHARGE UP EFFECTS, RATE CHARACTERISTICS AND AGING . . 41
5. OTHER DESIGNS OF STRIP-TYPE DETECTORS . . 44
6. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 48

Chapters 3 - Pixel and Microdot Detectors . . 52
1. MAIN DESIGNS AND OPERATING PRINCIPLE . . 52
2. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 56
3. WHY IS THE MAXIMUM ACHIEVABLE GAS GAIN SO HIGH IN SOME DESIGNS OF MICRODOT 
   DETECTORS? . . 57

Chapter 4 - MICROMEGAS . . 60
1. INTRODUCTION . . 60
2. DETECTOR DESIGN AND MAIN CHARACTERISTICS . . 61
3. COMPARISON BETWEEN MICROMEGAS AND PPAC . . 64
4. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 71
5. THE ULTIMATE POSITION RESOLUTION OF MICROMEGAS . . 72

Chapter 5 - Hole-Type Gaseous Electron Multipliers (GEM) . . 76
1. EARLY WORK ON HOLE-TYPE ELECTRON MULTIPLIERS . . 76
2. GAS ELECTRON MULTIPLIER . . 79
3 GEM AS A PREAMPLIFICATION STRUCTURE AND CASCADED GEMS . . 85
4. POSITION AND TIME RESOLUTIONS OF A MULTI-GEM . . 87
5. TRIPLE GEM STABILITY AND AGING . . 89
6. OTHER GEM-LIKE DETECTORS . . 92
7. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 96

Chapter 6 - Some Interesting Work on Capillary Glass Detectors . . 103
1. INTRODUCTION . . 103
2. THE USE OF CAPILLARY PLATES OPERATING IN A GAS FLOW . . 104
3. FIRST TESTS OF CAPILLARY PLATES AS DETECTORS OF VISIBLE LIGHT . . 106
4. CONCLUSION . . 112

Chapter 7 - Other Early Designs of Micropattern Detectors Developed 
            Between 1998 and 2003 . . 114
1. INTRODUCTION . . 114
2. SOME ORIGINAL DESIGNS: THE MICROWIRE AND MICROSLIT DETECTORS . . 115
3. OTHER MICROWIRE DETECTOR DESIGNS . . 117
4. NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN PARALLEL-PLATE TYPE AND HOLE-TYPE MICROPATTERN DETECTORS . . 121
5. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 124
6. CAN WIRE CHAMBERS COMPETE WITH A PRINTED CIRCUIT DETECTOR TECHNOLOGY? . . 125 

Chapter 8 - Operation of Micropattern Gaseous Detectors . . 129
1. INTRODUCTION . . 129
2. OTHER PHENOMENA CONTRIBUTING TO THE RAETHER LIMIT . . 131
3. FEEDBACK INDUCED BREAKDOWNS . . 136
4. CASCADED DETECTORS . . 137
5. DISCHARGE PROPAGATION TO THE READOUT PLATE FOR A SINGLE GEM IRRADIATED 
   SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH X-RAY AND ALPHA PARTICLES . . 143
6. INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS . . 145
7. PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS FROM DISCHARGE PROPAGATION STUDIES . . 148
8. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 149
9. CALCULATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE DISCHARGE PROBABILITIES IN 
   MICROMEGAS AND GEM IN HADRON BEAMS . . 149

Chapter 9 - Recent Developments of Micropattern Detectors . . 156
1. INTRODUCTION . . 156
2. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN GEM . . 157
3. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN MICROMEGAS . . 163
4. SPARK-SAFE MICROPATTERN DETECTORS WITH RESISTIVE ELECTRODES . . 167
5. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 186

Chapter 10 - The Capability of Key Micropattern Detectors to Suppress Ion Back Flow . . 195
1. INTRODUCTION . . 195
2. GEM AS A MULTIPLICATION AND THE IBF SUPPRESSION STRUCTURE . . 197
3. ION BACK FLOW IN MICROMEGAS BASED TPCS . . 208
4. COMPARISON BETWEEN GEM AND MICROMEGAS FOR TPC READOUT . . 212
5. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 212

Chapter 11 - Comparison between Various Designs of Micropattern Detectors . . 216
1. INTRODUCTION . . 216
2. GAIN CHARACTERISTICS . . 216
3. POSITION RESOLUTION . . 219
4. ENERGY RESOLUTION . . 220
5. TIME RESOLUTION . . 221
6. STABILITY AND AGING OF MICROPATTERN GASEOUS DETECTORS . . 221
7. MAIN DESIGNS OF MICROPATTERN DETECTORS USED TODAY AND PERSPECTIVES OF THEIR 
   COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION . . 223
8. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 224

Chapter 12 - Applications . . 228
1. INTRODUCTION . . 228
2. TRADITIONAL APPLICATIONS IN HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS EXPERIMENTS . . 229 
3. DEVELOPMENTS WHICH MAY LEAD TO NEW APPLICATIONS . . 234
4. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS . . 248
5. THE RD-51 COLLABORATION: INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
   MICROPATTERN DETECTORS AND PROMOTION OF THEIR APPLICATIONS . . 249

Conclusion . . 257
Glossary . . 258
Related References . . 260
Compilation of References . . 284
About the Contributors . . 301
Index . . 302