Testing timing RPC detectors at the Rossendorf electron linac ELBE

The timing performance of various multigap resistive plate chambers (MRPCs) has been tested at the Rossendorf electron linac ELBE. Electrons with energies of 20-40 MeV have been used to mimic minimum ionizing hadrons to be detected in large-scale time-of-flight (TOF) detectors for future heavy-ion collision experiments. Referencing the TOF measurement to the accelerator radio frequency, no fast start detector was necessary. A typical time resolution (including contributions from front-end electronics) of about 70 ps has been achieved for individual strips of the multistrip-anode MRPCs. Rate dependencies and detection efficiencies have been investigated.