Gaseous radiation detectors. The case of Thin Gap Chambers and Thick Gaseous Electron Multipliers

Experiments in high energy physics, particle astrophysics and imaging applications in the medical and homeland security field, all require instruments capable of detecting ionizing radiation and produce precise measurements of events' energy, position and time.
Since the very beginning of the fundamental particle physics' era, gases have been used as interaction media for particle detection. After about a century gaseous detectors are still at the heart of most high energy physics experiments, providing a cost effective way to cover very large areas.
At the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel we are continuing a decades' long tradition that started with the group of George Charpak at CERN with the development of multi-wire proportional chambers (MWPC) and continues with modern micro-pattern gaseous detectors (MPGD) driven by the continuous technological developments in the industry.
In the era of digital electronics and quantum computers, the tiny analog signal produced by ionization and charge drift in a gas is still an indispensable tool for investigating the innermost laws of matter.
We propose an insight into the physics of gaseous detectors through the particular case of the experience at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, including Thin Gap Chambers for the muon trigger system of the ATLAS experiment at CERN [1,2] and the development of new detector concepts based on Thick Gas Electron Multipliers (THGEM) [3].