Development of high-rate timing RPCs

For many applications of RPCs to time-of-flight counters in heavy ion experiments the expansion to much higher values of the counting rate capability, so far limited to around 2 kHz/cm2 is of fundamental importance. To address this issue we developed single-gap timing RPCs with resistive electrodes made from a commercially available plastic material. Tests performed in photon beams yielded a time resolution around 90 ps σ, essentially unchanged from 2 kHz/cm2 to 27 kHz/cm2. This result establishes the basic feasibility of timing measurements with RPCs at rates of tens of kHz/cm2, keeping a time resolution below 100 ps σ and using plastic electrode materials.