Simulation of the Electric Field and Potential for a Micro Pattern X-ray Detector Using Maxwell Software

In the summer of 2007, the faculty and student team (FaST) program from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana supported by NSF, DOE, and LS-LAMP conducted a detailed study to design, simulate, build and test a micro-pattern x-ray fluorescence gas detector at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). We used AutoCAD to design the detector’s parts that were machined and assembled to form the proposed detector. We have used Maxwell software to predict the electrical field and potential in the drift and amplification regions of the detector. This paper describes the hands on learning process and in depth research accomplishment that the undergraduate students have undertaken in the ten weeks of intensive summer learning. A detailed Maxwell simulation for the gas electron multiplier (GEM) and the micro mesh gaseous (MICROMEGAS) detectors are shown and experimental results of the double GEM fluorescence x-ray detector are depicted.