Abstract
Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are semiconductor-based light-sensors offering a high gain, a mechanically and optically robust design and high photon detection efficiency. Due to these characteristics, they started to replace conventional photomultiplier tubes in many applications in recent years. This paper presents an optical module based on SiPMs designed for the application in scintillators as well as lab measurements. The module hosts the SiPM bias voltage supply and three pre-amplifiers with different gain levels to exploit the full dynamic range of the SiPMs. Two SiPMs, read-out in parallel, are equipped with light guides to increase the sensitive area. The light guides are optimized for the read-out of wavelength shifting fibers as used in many plastic scintillator detectors. The optical and electrical performance of the module is characterized in detail in laboratory measurements. Prototypes have been installed and tested in a modified version of the Scintillator Surface Detector developed for AugerPrime, the upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The SiPM module is operated in the Argentinian Pampas and first data proves its usability in such harsh environments.
Highlights
This paper presents an optical module based on SiPMs designed for the application in scintillators as well as lab measurements
The transmission efficiency for all light guides is above 72 %
A light guide that consists of a truncated pyramid intersected with a cone with a length of 1 cm and an opening radius of 4.7 mm yields the best performance in terms of the most homogeneous efficiency for different fiber positions and the most homogeneous light distribution on the light-sensitive surface of the SiPM
Summary
Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are cell-structured, photo-sensitive semiconductors superseding conventional photomultiplier tubes in many applications in high-energy and astroparticle physics where the demand of high durability and performance is more significant than large collection areas. SiPMs offer single-photon resolution allowing for a precise calibration of the incident light flux and have similar or higher photon detection efficiencies than conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) [3, 4]. They are tolerant against the exposure with bright light [6]. SiPMs are replacing conventional PMTs in many applications They have been operated in the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) [7] for several years with great success and new small size telescopes are being developed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) [8]. Like the Hadronic Calorimeter of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector [11, 12] where they have been successfully operated for several years
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
