Micro-Drift Chamber as a precise vertex detector for the DIRAC experiment

A possible use of the Micro-Drift Chamber (MDC) as a high-resolution vertex detector in the upstream part of the DIRAC spectrometer was investigated. Simulations of different MDC layouts were performed with the help of the GARFIELD package. On the basis of the simulation results the optimal chamber geometry and gas mixture were selected. A one-cell prototype was produced and its characteristics were measured at different particle fluxes, various gas pressures and electronics thresholds. The observ ed data together with the expected MDC coordinate resolution allow this detector to be used in various fields, especially in the DIRAC experiment.