Muon tomography consists in using cosmic muons to probe structures in a neither invasive nor destructive way. Following the first muography of a water tower using a muon telescope based on Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors and developed at Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) Saclay in 2015, the gaseous detectors and electronics have been developed to be more robust to high variations of temperature, allowing to operate for example in Egypt for the ScanPyramids mission since 2016. More recently, simulations showed that muon telescopes based on multiplexed Micromegas detectors could also be used to detect cavities for geology studies or dismantling of nuclear facility leading to several partnerships with industrials.
However, most of the muon telescopes used nowadays are based on the hodoscope approach, requiring several detectors to operate and reconstruct muon tracks with a limited angular acceptance and compacity. To expand the spectrum of applications, CEA is developing a highly pixelated and 2D-multiplexed compact Time Projection Chamber (TPC) that would allow a full track reconstruction with a quasi-isotropical angular acceptance. In addition, this detector is meant to be as compact as possible and has been designed to fit into existing boreholes. Such detectors could be installed in a network to both detect and localise structures in the underground.
In this work we present the design of this new detector as well as the first prototypes developments and reconstruction algorithm.