Charge division in a cylindrical drift chamber for E1097

Abstract

A review of the key concepts in the operation of a drift chamber are given. The equations governing charge division are developed. In order to optimize the chamber geometry, calculations were performed so that a suitable geometry for the chamber could be chosen. Electronics to determine position information along the wire (charge division) from the pulses at the two ends of the wire were designed and constructed. A test chamber was constructed and used to demonstrate the validity of the calculations as well as the ability of the electronics to make the position measurement. Results from tests using cosmic rays demonstrate position resolution to have a $\sigma$ of less than 4 mm