Characterization of mirror mount prototypes for RICH detectors

The requirement for a high precision mirror positioning inside RICH detectors (LHCb, COMPASS) assumes that every mirror is fixed on the mechanical support structure by means of a fine adjustable mount. This has to fulfil strict mechanical criteria. Otherwise the adjustment process could be time-consuming, difficult and in some cases even impossible. The situation is complicated by the fact that apart from the adjustment precision requirements, only a small amount of material (representing a low fraction of radiation length) can be used in the mount design. In this article, the results from our measurements on the mechanical characteristics of mount prototypes developed in the TA2 group, INFN and TU in Torino and TU in Prague are presented.