Use of silica aerogel for Cherenkov radiation counter

The Cherenkov light collection from silica aerogel has been studied in two types of counters. In the first counter a mirror was used to collect the light and in the latter a diffusing box surrounded the aerogel sample. The optical characteristics of the aerogel (refractive index 1.06) and the diffusion coefficients of different diffusing materials have been measured. It is thus possible to build Cherenkov counters with silica aerogel for a high energy physics experiment at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings. (4 refs)