A gas proportional scintillation counter for use in large area detector systems without photomultipliers

The properties of a prototype gas proportional scintillation (GPS) detector module are described. The module (25 × 25 × 14 cm3) is intended to form the basic unit of large area (up to ≈ 100 m2) calorimetric cosmic ray burst detector. Ionisation from particle tracks in the module is collected onto a point electrode where the GPS signal is generated. A concave mirror focusses this point source onto the end of a fibre optic light guide. In the …