Origin and simulation of sparks in MPGD

The development of Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors for high luminosity experiments requires a better understanding of the origin of the sparks in these detectors. Assuming a spark occurs whenever the electron number reaches the well known Raether limit, previous Geant4 simulations quantitatively reproduced the spark rate observed in Micromegas with high energy hadron beams. Large release of energies are provided by fragments from nuclear interactions between the beam and the detector material. In order to further check the validity of our simulation, hadron beam tests have been performed at the CERN/SPS and PS on Micromegas and hybrid Micromegas-GEM detectors. In particular, large variations of the spark rate have been observed in positively charged hadron beams below 1 GeV/c, which are well described by the simulation. The role of the charge density has also been investigated with measurements in magnetic fields and with a Micromegas-GEM. The simulation has therefore been upgraded to take into account the transverse diffusion and is now able to quantitatively explain the role of a GEM foil in the spark rate reduction.