Towards a two-dimensional readout of the improved CMS Resistive Plate Chamber with a new front-end electronics

As part of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment Phase-II upgrade program, new resistive plate chambers will be installed in the region at low angle with respect to the beam collision axis, in order to improve the detection of muons with a low transverse momentum. High background conditions are expected in this region during the high-luminosity phase of the Large Hadron Collider, therefore an improved-RPC design has been proposed with a new front-end electronics to sustain a higher particle rate capability and better time resolution. A new technology is used in the front-end electronics resulting in low achievable signal detection of 1–20 fC. Crucial in the design of the improved-RPC is the capability of a two-dimensional readout in order to improve the spatial resolution, mainly motivated by trigger requirements. In this work, the first performance results towards this two-dimensional readout are presented, based on data taken on a real-size prototype chamber with two embedded readout planes with orthogonal strips. As part of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment Phase-II upgrade program, new Resistive Plate Chambers will be installed in the forward region. High background conditions are expected in this region during the high-luminosity phase of the Large Hadron Collider, therefore an improved RPC design has been proposed with a new front-end electronics to sustain a higher rate capability and better time resolution. A new technology is used in the front-end electronics resulting in very low achievable thresholds of the order of several fC. Crucial in the design of the improved RPC is the capability of a two-dimensional readout in order to improve the spatial resolution, mainly motivated by trigger requirements. In this work, the first performance results towards this two-dimensional readout are presented, based on data taken on a real-size prototype chamber with two embedded orthogonal readout strips. Furthermore, dedicated studies of the muon cluster size as a function of the graphite resistivity are discussed.