New Approach for 2D Readout of GEM Detectors

Detectors based on Gas Electron Multiplication (GEM) technology are becoming more and more widely used in nuclear and high energy physics and are being applied in astronomy, medical physics, industry, and homeland security. GEM detectors are thin, low mass, insensitive to magnetic fields, and can currently provide position resolutions down to {approx}50 microns. However, the designs for reconstructing the position, in two dimensions (2D), of the charged particles striking a GEM detector are often complicated to fabricate and expensive. The objective of this proposal is to investigate a simpler procedure for producing the two dimensional readout layer of GEM detectors using readily available printed circuit board technology which can be tailored to the detector requirements. We will use the established GEM laboratory and facilities at M.I.T. currently employed in developing GEM detectors for the STAR forward tracking upgrade to simplify the testing and evaluation of the new 2D readout designs. If this new design proves successful it will benefit future nuclear and high energy physics experiments already being planned and will similarly extend and simplify the application of GEM technology to other branches of science, medicine, and industry. These benefits would be not only in lower costs for fabrication but also it increased flexibility for design and application