Discharge Mitigation Strategies for the CMS GE1/1 Triple-GEM Detectors

During the next shutdowns of the LHC, three stations of the CMS muon system will be instrumented with Triple-GEM detectors. In particular, the installation of the GE1/1 station is foreseen during the Long Shutdown 2. A test installation of ten GE1/1 chambers was performed in 2016 as a proof of concept, referred to as the Slice Test. During its two years of operation, an irreversible loss in the number of efficient front-end electronics channels has been observed. This can potentially compromise the muon detection efficiency during operations of the High Luminosity LHC and will worsen the overall muon system trigger capabilities. An R&D campaign was started in June 2018, aimed to identify the source of channel loss and then ensure the safeness of the front-end electronics channels for the entire lifetime ( > 10 years) of GE1/1 detectors.