1. Prototype Progress… The Stony Brook Crew & Bob Azmoun, Craig Woody.

2. How to Clean a GEM… Last meeting, we reported a vacuum accident that heavily dusted 3 GEMs. Ordinary cleaning insufficient. Ultrasonics worked! –Individual GEMS tested at 450 V (stable). –Triple running at 360 V (stable)

3. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue… For tests fully functional Data Acquisition & Analysis system: DAQ system is Canberra MCA printing the spectrum as into laptop. Analyze text file with perl script and feed spectra into root. For a 1-channel system it is actually quite fast to get and analyze data. Good results from gain tests.

4. Row Scan (A5 J5) 55 Fe peak in all channels. Variation in gain similar to WIS reports. Sigma/Mean ~0.14

5. Column Scan c1 c7 55Fe looks good. Rates good (~20 kHz) Some 2-stage gain seen –Rate consistent w/ holes. Very stable operation.

6. BTW…we know how dirt got into cryo! DUH…the cryo pump has been vacuuming the floor through a rough pump the same way we vacuumed dust onto the GEMs. Decided to open & clean: –Cloud for dust from blowing gas on cold head. –Small handful of STONES/SAND. Now pumping is clean… Added thermocouple to Evaporation Box. Radiant heating NOT effective…adding heaters to evaporation box.

7. Prototype to be done in Italian Box Only box we have, so well use it for ptype. Nitrogen Flow from re-pressurizing dewar. Cleaning up: –Gloves removed for cleaning. –Box itself thoroughly cleaned.

8. Strategy for keeping clean Boxes within Boxes… Flow through HBD using Bobs gas system. Flow through Evaporation box (rapid purge) Flow through Glove Box. GloveBox exposure minimal –Just during transfer… Evap Box HBD Main Glove Box

9. Schedule: Evaporate CsI this week and set photo- sensitivity baseline using flash lamp. Next week is contingency on this. After end of next week BNL: –Full electronics chain…when? –Transparency, Gain, etc… Install during April 21 access. Should be enough time to see signals from real interactions. Success as BNL seeing Flash Lamp light source using small GEM…

10. Xe Flash Lamp: Monitor Relative QE of GEM Test: Illuminated 4x4cm CsI PC in vacuum Raw Output from pad 7mV into 50ohm, width~1usec 70pC 4.4x10 8 pes 1.5x10 9 photons (assuming ~30% avg. QE across spectrum) Lamp Output intensity can be regulated, and attenuated. RF noise preceding pe signal can be a problem if using a preamp to record signal signal is integrated over noise lose pe signal Can use GEM amplification to amplify pe signal, while noise amplitude remains fixed, or can devise an optical delay and gate over pe signal only. Xe Lamp/ MgF2 window Ar Filled Diffuser: Spectralon diffuser (disc) + Tyvec reflector (inside surface) RF Noise (from lamp power supply) pe pulse 2 RF pulses Aperture