A small series production of detector modules made of MicroStrip Gas Counters (MSGC) and a Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) foil has been exposed to a high-intensity hadron beam. We report about the reproductibility and stability of the detector responses and about the occurrence and consequences of discharges in the detector. The interdependence of the four voltage differences used in the detector has been studied by simulation and with X-ray measurements. Rate dependence of the signal amplitude is observed. The behaviour of the MSGC+GEM is compared to that of a state-of-the-art MSGC. Influence of various parameters on the detector response is investigated.

A system of detector modules consisting of a large size Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM), coupled to Micro Strip Gas Counters (MSGC), has been exposed to a pion beam at the Paul Scherrer Institute Cyclotron facility. As part of a CMS tracker milestone, the aim of this test was to investigate the robustness of such detectors when exposed to experimental conditions close to what is expected at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of CERN. Eighteen detector modules have been operated at voltage settings corresponding to 98% detection efficiency for Minimum Ionizing Particles during a period of 5 weeks. Sparking rates and strip losses have been monitored throughout the exposure. An operation margin of at least a factor of three with respect to the required gas gain has been demonstrated.

The CMS MF1 milestone was set in order to evaluate system aspects of the CMS forward-backward MSGC tracker, to check the design and feasibility of mass production and to set up assembly and test procedures. We describe the construction and the experience gained with the operation of a system of 38 MSGC detectors assembled in six multi-substrate detector modules corresponding to the geometry of the forward-backward MSGC tracker in CMS. These modules were equipped with MSGCs mounted side by side, forming a continuous detector surface of about 0.2 m. Different designs were tried for these modules. The problems encountered are presented with the proposed solutions. Operation conditions for the 38 MSGCs are reported from an exposure to a muon beam at the CERN SPS. Gain uniformity along the wedge-shaped strip pattern and across the detector modules are shown together with the detection efficiency, the spatial resolution, alignment and edge studies.

The CMS experiment, to be installed at the future p p collider LHC at CERN, foresees the use of Micro-Strip Gas Counters (MSGC’s) for the outer layers of its central tracker. Present developments focus on the reliability of MSGC’s in the harsh radiation environment imposed by the LHC. This paper reports on tests of two baseline CMS MSGC’s identical to those foreseen for the barrel part of the tracker, in a high intensity -beam at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), in april 1999.

Results on charged K and π production rates and their ratios measured by the SPY/NA56 experiment for 450 GeV/c proton interactions on beryllium targets are reported here. The present data sample covers the secondary particle momentum range between 7 GeV/c and 135 GeV/c in the forward direction. Experimental accuracies of 3% for Kπ ratios and of 5–10% for particle yields have been achieved.

In order to check the system aspects of the forward–backward MSGC tracker designed for the future CMS experiment at LHC, 38 trapezoidal MSGC counters assembled in six multi-substrates detector modules were built and exposed to a muon beam at the CERN SPS. Results on the gain uniformity along the wedge-shaped strip pattern and across the detector modules are shown together with measurements of the detection efficiency and the spatial resolution.

To investigate the effects of neutrons on MSGCs, the gain of several detectors was measured before and after irradiation with a flux of 106neutrons/cm2s in the CEA (Saclay) ISIS reactor facility. On one of these prototypes the induced activity was measured after the irradiation.

This paper reports on the charged K/pi production ratios and on the shape of the p(T) distributions of pi fluxes measured by the SPY/NA56 experiment for 450 GeV/c proton interactions on beryllium targets. The present data cover a secondary momentum range from 7 GeV/c to 135 GeV/c in the forward direction and with p(T) values up to 600 MeV/c. An experimental accuracy of about 3% has been achieved. These results will reduce the uncertainty on the estimation of the nu(e) component of neutrino beams. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.