Speakers
Description
The continuous evolution of high-energy physics experiments is driving detector technologies towards increasingly stringent requirements on the precision of both spatial and temporal measurements. The simultaneous determination of a particle trajectory and its time coordinate is becoming a key element for precision tracking, event reconstruction, fast triggering, particle identification, and time-of-flight applications. This evolution is leading towards a new generation of detectors capable of providing increasingly precise four-dimensional information, combining fine spatial granularity with advanced timing performance.
Gas detectors have played a central role in this progress, offering a remarkable combination of large-area coverage, excellent spatial resolution, fast response, radiation tolerance, and scalability. This review presents a comparative overview of the spatial and temporal measurement capabilities of modern gas-based detector technologies, spanning established solutions and emerging concepts. The discussion will highlight how different amplification mechanisms, detector geometries, readout architectures, and signal-processing strategies contribute to the overall space–time precision of a detector, with performance ranging from excellent spatial resolution to sub-nanosecond and, in selected configurations, tens-of-picoseconds timing resolution.
Particular emphasis will be placed on Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGDs), whose rapid development has opened new possibilities for combining fine spatial granularity, high-rate capability, radiation hardness, and increasingly precise timing. Recent advances in technologies such as GEMs, Micromegas, resistive MPGDs such as micro-RWELL, and hybrid detector concepts will be discussed in the context of their applications in current high-energy physics experiments, as well as their potential role in future facilities requiring unprecedented levels of spatial and temporal precision. This review will highlight how the continued evolution of gas detector technologies is opening new possibilities for precision instrumentation in the next generation of high-energy physics experiments.