Speaker
Description
Gaseous detectors are widely employed in high-energy physics experiments, where their operation often relies on fluorinated gases with a high Global Warming Potential. In light of increasing environmental awareness and tightening regulations, the identification of sustainable and low-impact gas mixtures has become a priority for the community.
Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) operated in avalanche mode typically make use of high-performance mixtures based on high-GWP gases such as C₂H₂F₄ and SF₆. Within the RPC ECOGas@GIF++ Collaboration, a dedicated long-term R&D program has focused on the identification of environmentally friendly alternatives and on the evaluation of their behaviour under irradiation. In this context, different RPCs filled with an HFO-1234ze/CO₂-based mixture have been exposed to intense radiation at the CERN GIF++ facility, reaching integrated charges of O(10² mC/cm²) over approximately three years. The ageing study has now been finalized, and the detector response has been characterized over a broad range of particle fluxes.
In this presentation, the final results of the ageing campaign will be reported, together with an overview of the implications for future RPC operation and gas mixture optimization.