Design and function of an electron mobility spectrometer with a thick gas electron multiplier

The design and function of an electron mobility spectrometer (EMS) including a thick gas electron multiplier (THGEM) is presented. The THGEM was designed to easily be incorporated in an existing EMS to investigate the ability to detect tritium in air using a micropattern gas detector. The THGEM and a collection plate (anode) were installed and the appropriate circuitry was designed and connected to supply the required voltages to the THGEM-EMS. An alpha source (241Am) was used to generate electron-ion pairs within the gas-filled sensitive volume of the EMS. The electrons were used to investigate the THGEM-EMS response as a function of applied voltage to the THGEM and anode. The relative gas-gain and system resolution of the THGEM-EMS were measured at various applied voltage settings. It was observed a potential difference across the THGEM of +420 V and potential difference across the induction region of +150 V for this EMS setup resulted in the minimum voltage requirements to operate with a stable gain and system resolution. Furthermore, as expected, the gain is strongly affected not only by the potential difference across the THGEM, but also by the applied voltage to the anode and resulting potential difference between the THGEM and anode.