Speaker
Description
The sPHENIX experiment at RHIC requires a high resolution tracking detector in order to
distinguish different states of the Upsilon meson to study the evolution of quark gluon plasma
(QGP). A Time Projection Chamber (TPC) will serve as a main tracking detector for this measurement. The sPHENIX TPC uses a stack of Gas Electron Multipliers (GEMs) as a gain stage
in a reduced ion back-flow configuration. In non-ideal conditions, the high voltage across a GEM
stack can create sparks which can cause physical damage and result in dead time as the detector
settles. In order to limit the occurrence of sparks in the TPC GEMs it is important to monitor for
sparks. In this talk we will present a method for detecting sparks so that GEM voltages can
quickly be adjusted in order to prevent further sparking. Further, the development of monitoring
electronics which will take in the spark signal and produce a signal that can be digitized at 10
MHz, will be discussed.
