The use of a nitrogen laser for observation of space charge effects in drift chambers and development of high precision vertex chambers

A two-stage nitrogen laser has been built and is presently being used to investigate properties of drift chambers. In this paper we present the measured parameters of this laser, the results of a study of the double track separation in a drift chamber of jet design and a measurement of the saturation effects in this chamber as a function of total gain. An understanding of the saturation effects is important for drift chambers with multiple hit capability. The laser technique reported here represents a major improvement in the simplicity of investigation of the double track separation and saturation effects. In addition, we have demonstrated the usefulness of this kind of laser in the development of high precision drift chambers working in a resolution range of ∼ 20–30 μm.