Testing of high voltage surge protection devices for use in liquid argon TPC detectors

In this paper we demonstrate the capability of high voltage varistors and gas discharge tube arrestors for use as surge protection devices in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. The insulating and clamping behavior of each type of device is characterized in air (room temperature), and li...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Asaadi, J., Conrad, Janet, Gollapinni, S., Jones, Benjamin James Poyner, Jostlein, H., St. John, J. M., Strauss, T., Wolbers, S., Zennamo, J.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: IOP Publishing 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98043
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6393-0438
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6243-1453
Description
Summary:In this paper we demonstrate the capability of high voltage varistors and gas discharge tube arrestors for use as surge protection devices in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. The insulating and clamping behavior of each type of device is characterized in air (room temperature), and liquid argon (90 K), and their robustness under high voltage and high energy surges in cryogenic conditions is verified. The protection of vulnerable components in liquid argon during a 150 kV high voltage discharge is also demonstrated. Each device is tested for argon contamination and light emission effects, and both are constrained to levels where no significant impact upon liquid argon time projection chamber functionality is expected. Both devices investigated are shown to be suitable for HV surge protection applications in cryogenic detectors.