The KLOE drift chamber VCI 2001

The main goal of the KLOE experiment at the Frascati DAPhiNE phi -factory is the study CP violation in kaon decays. The tracking device of the experiment is a drift chamber whose dimensions, 4 m of diameter and 3.3 m length, provide a large acceptance volume for the decay products of low momentum K-L (lambda(L) = 3.4m). A complete stereo geometry with 12.582 cells arranged in 58 layers guarantees a high and uniform efficiency in the reconstruction of the charged K-L decays. Very light materials have been chosen both for the drift medium, a helium-based gas mixture, and for the mechanical structure, made of carbon fiber, to minimize multiple scattering and conversion of low-energy photons. The design requirements, the adopted solutions together with the calibration procedure and the tracking performances of the drift chamber are discussed. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. RI Gauzzi, Paolo/D-2615-2009; valente, paolo/A-6640-2010; ANTONELLI, ANTONELLA/C-6238-2011; Bellini, Fabio/D-1055-2009; Di Domenico, Antonio/G-6301-2011; De Lucia, Erika/D-2250-2011; branchini, paolo/A-4857-2011; Murtas, Fabrizio/B-5729-2012