MUPPATS: A multiparticle 3D imaging detector system

It has long been recognized that the foil-induced dissociation of fast molecular ions is a potentially powerful method to determine the stereochemical structures of the molecular projectiles. We have recently developed a detector system specifically designed for such experiments. The MUPPATS detector is a large-area multistep low pressure gas counter. The requirements of multiparticle detection with good position and time resolution leads to a rather complex data-readout and reduction scheme. The system relies on several state-of-the-art techniques, developed in high-energy physics during recent years, to dramatically reduce the cost of the MUPPATS detector. Preliminary results for several polyatomic molecular ions have already been obtained. Some new avenues of research opened up by this detector are also described.