A Hadron Blind Detector for the PHENIX Experiment at RHIC

M Inuzuka ,Y Yamaguchi ,S Saito ,L Shekhtman,H Hamagaki ,B Azmoun,T Isobe ,C L Woody ,Z Fraenkel,Y Morino,T Gunji ,I Ravinovich,K Ozawa ,T Sakaguchi ,I Tserruya,S Sawada,A Kozlov,S Yokkaichi,S Oda ,A Milov ,M Naglis

doi:10.1109/nssmic.2004.1462403

Abstract

A hadron blind detector (HBD) is being developed for an upgrade of the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. The HBD is a windowless Cherenkov detector, operated with pure CF/sub 4/ in a special proximity focus configuration. The detector consists of a 50 cm long radiator, directly coupled to a triple GEM detector which has a CsI photocathode evaporated on the top surface of the uppermost GEM foil, and a pad readout at the bottom of the GEM stack. Detailed studies of the detector performance, including hadron rejection, figure of merit, N/sub 0/, number of photoelectrons and efficiency are presented. These studies include measurements performed with a UV lamp, an /sup 55/Fe X-ray source and an /sup 241/Am alpha source. Results will also be given on aging studies of the GEM foils and the CsI photocathode in pure CF/sub 4/.

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