A mask for high-intensity heavy-ion beams in the MAYA active target

The use of high-intensity and/or heavy-ion beams in active targets and time-projection chambers is often limited by the strong ionization produced by the beam. Besides the difficulties associated with the saturation of the detector and electronics, beam-related signals may hide the physical events of interest or reduce the detector performance. In addition, space-charge effects may deteriorate the homogeneity of the electric drift field and distort the subsequent reconstruction of particle trajectories. In anticipation of future projects involving such conditions, a dedicated beam mask has been developed and tested in the MAYA active target. Experimental results with a 136Xe beam are presented.