NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT, cilt.348, sa.2-3, ss.269-274, 1994 (SCI-Expanded)
We demonstrate that some standard photocathodes (SbCs, GaAs(Cs), Au(Cs)) can be easily manufactured for use inside gaseous detectors. When filled with clean quenched gases such detectors have a quantum efficiency of a few percent in the visible region of the spectrum and can operate at a gain > 10(3). We tried to make these photocathodes more air stable by protecting their surfaces with a thin layer of CsI or liquid TMAE. The most air stable were photocathodes with a CsI protective layer. At wavelengths greater-than-or-equal-to 185 nm such photocathodes have the highest quantum efficiency among all known air stable photocathodes, including CsI. Gaseous detectors with such photocathodes can operate at a gain of 10(5). Results of the first tests of doped CsI photocathode are also presented. Possible fields of application of the new photocathodes are discussed.