The BigBite Drift Chambers for the Measurement of $G_E^n$ at High $Q^2$ in Hall A

A precision measurement of the electric form factor of the neutron $G^{n}_{E}$ has been carried out in Jefferson Lab's Hall~A for $Q^{2}$ values of 1.2 to 3.5~$\mathrm{GeV}^2$ using a highly polarized $^3$He target and the quasi-elastic semi-exclusive $^3\vec{He}\left(\vec{e}, e^{\prime}n \right)$ reaction. The experiment detected the ejected neutron with an array of scintillators and the scattered electron with the newly commissioned BigBite spectrometer. This new spectrometer has a large angular acceptance (80 msr), complementing the existing 6 msr high-resolution spectrometers, and will enable a new generation of low-rate experiments with lower resolution requirements. A package of three multi-wire drift chambers was constructed in order to allow the spectrometer to operate under high rate conditions and achieve a spatial resolution of $\sigma~\sim~200~\mu m$. Novel construction techniques used for the drift chambers will be discussed. Online results showing chamber performance at raw hit rates up to 20 MHz per plane will be presented.