Production of long-strip multi-gap resistive plate chamber module for the STAR-MTD system

A new Long-strip Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (LMRPC) prototype with 5 gas gaps has been developed for the Muon Telescope Detector (MTD) of the STAR experiment at RHIC in order to reduce the working High Voltage (HV) of previous design. Technical specifications related to the final infrastructure present in the experiment have motivated this effort. Its performance has been measured with cosmic rays. The efficiency of this prototype can reach 98% and the time resolution is around 95 ps. It shows a good uniformity among strips. The noise level is less than 0.2 Hz/cm2. The signal transmission and crosstalk of the modules was measured with a vector network analyzer, showing a good match with simulations within the amplifier bandwidth. A new cosmic-ray test system with long scintillators has been developed to accelerate the Quality Control (QC) process during the mass production of STAR-MTD. A selection of perpendicular cosmic-ray events for more accurate evaluation of the time resolution is achieved. The time resolution with this method is better, albeit with larger error, than the result obtained without any selection. A new spacer is used, resulting in a much reduced streamer ratio at comparable fields. Thirty-two modules have been built with the new spacer by the middle of April of 2012. They have been tested and they all have passed the QC.