The CEE-eTOF wall constructed with new sealed MRPC

Abstract

This paper reports the layout of the endcap Time of Flight (eTOF) wall for the External target Experiment (CEE) at the Heavy Ion Research Facility at the Lanzhou—Cooling Storage Ring (HIRFL-CSR), and highlights the forward application of a new sealed technology of Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC). The sealed MRPC, which uses an integral 3D-printed frame glued with the outermost glass electrodes, can operate in an extremely low gas flux. A sealed MRPC prototype has been assembled and tested under cosmic rays, and performs stably at a 97.5% efficiency and a 60 ps time resolution. The sealed design, with a small gas volume and good air-tightness, shows its advantages in low gas consumption, little environmental impact, fast high voltage application and others.