GEMs with double layered micropattern electrodes and their applications

We have developed and testes several new designs of GEM detectors with micropattern electrodes manufactured by microelectronic technology. In one designs the inner layer of the detector’s electrode consists of thin metallic strips and the outer layer is made of a resistive grid manufactured by a screen printing technology. In other designs, the electrodes were made of metallic strips fed by HV via micro-resistors manufactured by a screen printing technology. Due to these features, the new detectors have several important advantages over conventional GEMs or ordinary thick GEMs. For example, the resistive grid (in the first design) and the screen printed resistors (in other designs) limited the current in case of discharges which make the detectors intrinsically spark-protected. We will here describe our tests with the photosensitive versions of these detectors (coated with CsI layers) and the efforts of implementing them in several applications. In particular, we will focus on our activity towards the ALICE RICH detector upgrade and on tests of simplified prototypes of cryogenic dark matter detectors.