A multiwire chamber in which spatial resolution is achieved by measuring the time electrons need to reach the anode wire, measured from the moment that the ionizing particle traversed the detector. This results in higher resolution and wider wire spacing than can be obtained with simple planar or cylindrical multiwire proportional chambers. Fewer channels have to be equipped with electronics, although the cost per channel is increased. Shortest drift times are achieved in drift tubes.
Recent developments are silicon drift chambers and microstrip gas chambers .
In planar drift chambers, the anode wires are alternated with thick field-shaping cathode wires often called field wires , that reinforce the electric field right in between two anode wires. The anode wire is maintained at a positive potential, and the two field wires at the potential of the adjacent cathode wires. Planar drift chambers measure the coordinates of the intersection of a particle track with a wire plane, by making the electrons drift in the plane. The drift direction in a jet chamber is roughly perpendicular to the wire plane, with only a small amplification region. Thus a single trajectory gives rise to many hits on different wires.