Search for Strangeonia in Photoproduction using CLAS

The HyCLAS experiment at Jefferson Lab is a program to search for new and unusual mesons produced via photoproduction. The strangeonia sector is poorly known and a main component of this program is a search for new strangeonium states. The reaction $\gamma~ p \rightarrow p ~\phi~ \eta$ is an ideal channel to look for strangeonium states due to the strangeness content of both the $\phi$ and $\eta$. The data was acquired at the JLAB CLAS facility using a 4 - 5.5 GeV tagged photon beam. The $\phi$ meson is identified via the $K^+ K^- $ decay. The recoil proton is observed in the CLAS spectrometer and the $\eta$ meson is identified through the missing mass. Also of interest is the search for strangeonia decaying to $\phi \pi^0$ and $\phi \omega$. These channels are OZI suppressed for $q \bar q$ mesons and an observation of a meson decaying to these channels would provide a strong evidence of mesons beyond $q \bar q$. Preliminary results describing the data quality, kinematics and dynamics will be shown.