Investigating $\phi(1020)$ mesons from photo- and electro-production on nuclear targets with the CLAS detector.

The data sets from two large experiments with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Laboratory were used to look for the $\phi(1020)$ meson in photo-production on deuterium and in electro-production on $^{2}$H, $^{12}$C and $^{56}$Fe. The $\phi$ mesons were identified by their decay to a $K^{+}$ $K^{-}$ pair. We investigate the possibility of extracting nuclear transparency ratios from this data and discuss implications for future experiments with an upgraded CLAS detector. The experimental setup, the data analysis technique and some preliminary results will be presented.