$\phi $ meson production in Deuteron-Gold Collisions at $\sqrt s =200$ GeV at PHENIX

Surprising nuclear effects from $J/\psi $ and light meson productions at forward rapidity region have been observed in d+Au collisions at $\sqrt s =200$GeV in PHENIX using the forward muon spectrometers. The $J/\psi $ signals were reconstructed through the dimuon decay channel, and the light mesons ($\pi $,$K)$ were detected through their decays to muons as well as through the `punch-through' hadrons. To understand the origin for the nuclear effects, it would be very useful to detect the $\phi $ meson which contains a pair of strange and anti-strange quarks. The measurement of $\phi $ production at PHENIX will also help us to understand the nuclear effects as a function of the mass of the produced hadrons. The $\phi $ production could be measured via $\phi \to \mu ^+\mu ^-$ decay channel using the muon spectrometers at PHENIX. However, the current trigger system is optimized for the measurement of $J/\psi $. An improvement to the trigger system will allow the study of $\phi $ production. We have calculated the production of $\phi $ in the d+Au reaction at $\sqrt s =200$ GeV. The acceptance of the PHENIX detector for the $\phi $ events, and the kinematic coverage and the anticipated statistical accuracy for the accepted $\phi $ events have also been studied. In this talk, we present the results of this study.