Design and test of a Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber with Long readout-strip (LMRPC)

A new kind (two end readout) of Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber with long readout-strip (LMRPC) is developed to be used at the large-area Muon Telescope Detector (MTD) at mid-rapidity at RHIC/STAR experiment for Time-of-Flight (TOF) measurement. The LMRPC has an active area of 87 cm× 17 cm, 10 gas gaps of 250 μm arranged in 2 stacks, with readout strips of 2.5 cm wide and 90 cm long. The considerations in LMRPC design related to its performance are discussed in this paper. The cosmic ray test results of a prototype LMRPC show a detection efficiency >95% and the time resolution ～70 ps.