DETECTING AXIONS AND LOW-ENERGY NEUTRINOS WITH MICROMEGAS

The use of Micromegas in low background Astroparticle physics investigations is discussed. We report experimental results obtained with a CAST detector for the solar axion experiment. The good X-Y imaging properties of the detector have been evaluated in a low energy x-ray beam and the background rejection capability has been measured. An excellent performance of 2.5×10⁻⁶events/keV/cm²/s background rate was measured.

The prospects of using the same detector for reading out large volume TPCs, for low energy neutrino investigations (solar neutrino spectrum, neutrino oscillations, neutrino magnetic moment) is also discussed