The Bonus Detector: A Radial Time Projection Chamber for tracking Spectator Protons

A GEM-based Radial Time Projection Chamber is being developed as a spectator-proton tracker for an experiment at Jefferson Lab. The purpose of the experiment is the study of the structure of nearly free neutrons. Interactions on such neutrons can be identified by the presence of a backward-moving proton in the final state of a beam-deuterium collision. The detector must be of very low mass in order to provide sensitivity to the slowest possible protons. The ionization electron trail left by the protons will drift radially outward to an amplification structure composed of curved GEMs, and the resulting charge will be collected on pads on the outer layer of the detector. Unique design challenges are imposed by the cylindrical geometry and the low mass requirement. The status of the project and results of prototype tests are presented.