Performance of Ultra-thin Straw Tubes from Test Beam Data Analysis

Straw tubes are widely used in high energy experiments as gaseous trackers due to their low material budget. Recent advancements in construction techniques with ultra-thin (<20 μm) straw tubes could allow their use as a high-precision inner tracker for FCC-ee experiments. Evaluating their performance is critical to determine their potential and feasibility.

This work present results from test beam studies conducted at CERN’s H4 beamline using a high-energy muon beam. The prototype straw tube array consists of eight layers, including two U-layers and two V-layers, rotated by +2° and -2°, respectively. The experimental setup integrates either a silicon detector or four small-diameter Monitored Drift Tube (sMDT) detectors to provide precise reference tracks for extrapolating muon trajectories to the straw tubes. Key performance has been investigated, demonstrating that the straw tubes achieve a good spatial resolution with high detection efficiency. Furthermore, the second-coordinate position along the straw tube is determined with a precision of a few millimeters, achieved through combined tracking with the four U-V layers.

This talk will discuss detailed results from the test beam studies, with a focus on the data analysis methods, as well as performance and prospects of ultra-thin straw tube trackers for future collider experiments.