Development of a Novel Detector Concept: Pixel Projection Chamber (PPC) for operating at ultra high rates for Tagged Deep Inelastic Scattering (TDIS) program at JLab

The high luminosity spectator tagging experimental program in Jefferson Lab Hall A will enable precision measurements of electron scattering off pion, kaon, and neutron targets. The program will focus on exploring the meson content of the nucleon, studying the structure functions of pions and kaons, and investigating Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) on the neutron. A crucial aspect of this experiment is the development of a detector capable of tracking low momentum recoil protons at high background rates. To address this challenge, we have designed the Pixel Projection Chamber (PPC), a wire amplification based device with wire spacing and plane separation as small as 1 mm. These wire planes will provide pixelized snapshots of a curving particle track in a solenoidal magnetic field. The PPC offers significant improvements in both hit and track occupancy, which are essential for the success of the experiments. We are creating a detailed CAD model of the detector as well as performing a Geant 4 simulation. Additionally, we will fabricate a proof-of-principle prototype in order to investigate the detectors stability, amplification, and gas uniformity. The results from these studies will be presented.