ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the properties of several low-pressure gaseous detectors, multiwire chambers, multistep counters and the Tracking Range and Energy Chamber developed during the few years. The low pressure operation mechanism of detectors like multiwire proportional chambers and multistep chambers is characterized by a rapid avalanche growth and high gain, resulting in excellent timing and imaging characteristics and in several other remarkable properties. Various low mass detectors described here have applications over a broad range of charged particles, from heavily ionizing ions down to single electrons. Among the properties of low pressure timing and imaging detectors such as multiwire chambers and multistep counters are high gain, rapidity, good localization, high rate capability, good multiparticle resolution and low sensitivity to background radiation. The high efficiency of low-pressure multistep chambers for the detection and imaging of single electrons have triggered several potential applications in particle and high energy ion physics, having the advantages of low pressure operation.
