The first operation of a cryogenic Resistive Plate WELL (RPWELL) detector in the saturated vapor of liquid argon is reported. The RPWELL detector was composed of a Thick Gas Electron Multiplier (THGEM) electrode coupled to a metallic anode via Fe2O3/YSZ ceramics (Fe2O3 in weight equal to 75%), with tunable bulk resistivity in the range 109 - 1012Ω⋅cm. The detector was operated at liquid argon temperature in saturated argon vapor (90~K, 1.2~bar) and characterized in terms of its effective charge gain and stability against discharges. Maximum stable gain of G≈17 was obtained, without discharges. In addition, preliminary results from novel 3D-printed thermoplastic plates doped with carbon nanotubes are presented.
@article{arxiv.2312.06809,
title = {Cryogenic RPWELL: a novel charge-readout element for dual-phase argon TPCs},
author = {A. Tesi and S. Leardini and L. Moleri and M. Morales and D. Gonzalez-Diaz and A. Jash and A. Breskin and S. Bressler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2312.06809},
year = {2023}
}