NEXT-MM

NEXT-1-MM is a medium scale detector built to test the applicability of Micromegas/TPC option to the search of the 136Xe double beta decay. It was build within the NEXT collaboration as one of the prototypes to test technological options for the experiment. The chamber has a fiducial volume defined by a field cage composed by 34 field shaping rings, having a cylindrical field cage of 280mm diameter and 340mm drift length.

nextmmdesign

 

nextmmvessel

The readout of the TPC is based on the microbulk technology (a bulk Micromegas readout was also used in the tests of the detector). Four sectorial detectors
(with the shape of a quarter of a circle) were installed due to the current manufacturing limitation to a maximum wafer size of ∼25×25 cm2 (Figure 4-right). Each of these detectors has a pixelized anode with 288 pixels of 0.8×0.8 cm2. It therefore totals 1152 pixels for the whole readout plane.  Bulk Micromegas provide robust detector, but the fact that Microbulk ones ensure higher field homogeneity and better energy resolution, makes them a more suitable option for NEXT-MM. Additionally, the used raw materials (a simple double-sided copper-clad kapton sheet) and the manufacturing process assure a better radiopurity control of the detector

nextmmreadout

 

[Page still under construction]

Please check our publications for technical and scientific results of NEXT-1-MM.