Rohacell foam as a silicon support structure material for the PHENIX multiplicity vertex detector

Rohacell [1], a low-density rigid foam, has been investigated as a support structure material for silicon strip detectors in the Multiplicity Vertex Detector (MVD) in the PHENIX experiment. Although Rohacell is susceptible to changes in humidity, tests have shown that it is an acceptable material for the MVD silicon support structure. The advantage of using Rohacell is that it offers a mechanically robust structure in which secondary interactions are minimized.