Gas analysis system for ageing studies of gaseous radiation detectors

A special gas analysis system has been constructed to analyze compounds cre ated in electron avalanches in gaseous radiation detectors during their ope ration. The analysis method is based on utilisation of cryogenic concentrat ion unit connected to a tandem gas chromatograph and a mass spectrometer. T he system has been designed for quantitative analysis of organic compounds potentially involved in ageing processes of detectors. It can be exploited to identify compounds prone to polymerise and to measure variation of compo unds as a function of detector construction materials and additives in the gas mixture. As a quantitative instrument it can be used to measure depende nce of concentration of compounds on operating parameters of detectors, e.g , gas amplification and irradiation rate and type. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scienc e B.V. All rights reserved.