| This manuscript presents a synthesis of my research activities since October 2002. My work has been dedicated to the development of the Micromegas detectors for the detection of rare events in particular in the context of the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST). The environment of the CAST experiment has resulted in the optimisation of a new technology of Micromegas detectors, the microbulk detectors. Thanks to their good intrinsic radiopurity and their excellent energy resolution, the microbulk detectors combined to underground experiment techniques (study of background and shielding), have proven to be very appropriate for the search of solar axions. The evolution of Micromegas detectors within the CAST experiment and the improvement of the background level by more than two orders of magnitude are presented. In addition, related developments beyond the context of the CAST experiment are also exposed. |
