Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors have been widely studied and applied in many experiments. The so called zigzag readout has been studied for reading out large area GEM detectors for tracking purposes. Using of the zigzag readout can significantly reduce number of electronic channels and hence the cost of a detector while still preserving good spatial resolution on a detector. In this presentation, I will first briefly review the GEM detectors and their applications, then I will focus on the R&D activities on GEM detectors with zigzag readout for tracking at a future electron ion collider (EIC), I’ll also cover some potential applications of large area GEM detectors and the zigzag readout for other experiments.
