Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector Prototype Results for E665 at Fermilab

A proportional wire chamber (PWC) with cathode pad readout has been used to measure the position of Cherenkov photons produced by the passage of a 100 GeV muon beam in a five meter long radiator at Fermilab. We observe, on average, 6.2 photo-electrons per muon using Tetrakis (Dimethyl Amino) Ethylene (TMAE) as the photo ionizing vapor for detecting Cherenkov photons and 3.5 photo-electrons using triethylamine (TEA). The observed radius resolution was 3mm FWHM for the TEA data and 5mm FWHM for the TMAE data. In both cases a CaF2 window transmitted the Cherenkov light from the radiator into the photon detector. The radiator gas was 20% argon and 80% helium producing Cherenkov rings with an average radius of 70mm. The detector described here offers the advantage of good timing resolution, (less than 100 nsec when using TEA), and high multi photon and multi ring reconstruction capability.