  A Hadron Blind Detector (HBD) has been developed, constructed and
successfully operated within the PHENIX detector at RHIC. The HBD is a
Cherenkov detector operated with pure CF4. It has a 50 cm long radiator
directly coupled in a window- less configuration to a readout element
consisting of a triple GEM stack, with a CsI photocathode evaporated on the top
surface of the top GEM and pad readout at the bottom of the stack. This paper
gives a comprehensive account of the construction, operation and in-beam
performance of the detector.
