Cosmic ray tests of a GEM-based TPC prototype operated in Ar–CF4–isobutane gas mixtures

Argon with an admixture of CF4 is expected to be a good candidate for the gas mixture to be used for a time projection chamber (TPC) in the future linear collider experiment because of its small transverse diffusion of drift electrons especially under a strong magnetic field. In order to confirm the superiority of this gas mixture over conventional TPC gases we carried out cosmic ray tests using a GEM-based TPC operated mostly in Ar–CF4–isobutane mixtures under 0–1 T axial magnetic fields. The measured gas properties such as gas gain and transverse diffusion constant as well as the observed spatial resolution are presented.