GDD WELCOME TO THE GAS DETECTORS DEVELOPMENT GROUP
INVENTORS OF THE GAS ELECTRON MULTIPLIER (GEM)

Created in the late sixties by Georges Charpak, inventor of the Multiwire Proportional Chamber and 1992 Nobel Laureate for Physics, the group has been active in the development and applications of advanced detectors for particle physics. After Charpak's retirement in the early nineties, the research is led by Fabio Sauli, who joined the group in 1969. After Sauli's retirement (March 2006) the research is led by Leszek Ropelewski.

Many detector designs have been introduced or developed over the years, mostly (but not only) to satisfy the increasingly demanding needs in high-energy physics. They include Multiwire Chambers (MWPC), Drift Chambers, (DC) Multi-Step Avalanche Chambers (MSAC), Ring Imaging Cherenkov Chambers (RICH), Multi-Drift Modules (MDM), Micro-Strip Gas Chambers (MSGC). Dedicated devices have been developed for applications in medicine and biology.

The group's recent activity has been centered on the development of the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology, invented in 1997 by Fabio Sauli. A set of large GEM tracking detectors is operating in the COMPASS experiment; a new tracker for TOTEM is in construction. Similar devices are under development in other groups for fast tracking, improved readout for large volume Drift and Time Projection Chambers, neutron detection. Applications in other fields are also being investigated, namely medical imaging, astrophysics, structure analysis.

Our laboratory is located at CERN in Building 154.

A collection of photos of present, recent and former collaborators to the Gas Detectors development group can be seen in GALLERY.