Gas distribution and monitoring for the drift chamber of the MEG II experiment

The reconstruction of the positron trajectory in the MEG II experiment searching for the mu(+) -> e(+) gamma decay uses a cylindrical drift chamber operated with a helium-isobutane gas mixture. A stable performance of the detector in terms of its electron drift properties, avalanche multiplication, and with a gas mixture of controlled composition and purity has to be provided and continuously monitored. In this paper we describe the strategies adopted to meet the requirements imposed by the target sensitivity of MEG II, including the construction and commissioning of a small chamber for an online monitoring of the gas quality.