  The properties of thick GEM-like (TGEM) gaseous electron multipliers,
operated at 1-740 Torr are presented. They are made of a G-10 plate, perforated
with millimeter-scale diameter holes. In single-multiplier elements, effective
gains of about 104, 106, and 105 were reached at respective pressures of 1, 10
Torr isobutane and 740 Torr Ar/5%CH4, with pulse rise-times in the few
nanosecond scale. The high effective gain at atmospheric pressure was measured
with a TGEM coated with a CsI photocathode. The detector was operated in single
and cascaded modes. Potential applications in ion and photon detection are
discussed.
