We study the performance of Gas Electron Multipliers (GEMs) in gaseous He, Ne
and Ne+H2 at temperatures in the range of 2.6-293 K. In He, at temperatures
between 62 and 293 K, the triple-GEM structures often operate at rather high
gains, exceeding 1000. There is an indication that this high gain is achieved
by Penning effect in the gas impurities released by outgassing. At lower
temperatures the gain-voltage characteristics are significantly modified
probably due to the freeze-out of impurities. In particular, the double-GEM and
single-GEM structures can operate down to 2.6 K at gains reaching only several
tens at a gas density of about 0.5 g/l; at higher densities the maximum gain
drops further. In Ne, the maximum gain also drops at cryogenic temperatures.
The gain drop in Ne at low temperatures can be reestablished in Penning
mixtures of Ne+H2: very high gains, exceeding 10000, have been obtained in
these mixtures at 50-60 K, at a density of 9.2 g/l corresponding to that of
saturated Ne vapor near 27 K. The results obtained are relevant in the fields
of two-phase He and Ne detectors for solar neutrino detection and electron
avalanching at low temperatures.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publishing in Nucl. Instr. and
Meth.
