Analytical description of the time-over-threshold method based on time properties of plastic scintillators equipped with silicon photomultipliers

Abstract

A new highly granular neutron detector (HGND) for the identification and energy measurement of neutrons produced in nucleus–nucleus interactions at the BM@N experiment, Dubna, Russia, at energies up to 4 AGeV is under development. The detector consists of approximately 2000 fast plastic scintillators, each with dimensions of 40 × 40 × 25 mm3, equipped with SiPM (Silicon Photomultiplier) with an active area of 6 × 6 mm2. The signal readout from these scintillators will employ a single-threshold multichannel Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) to measure their response time and charge using the time-over-threshold (ToT) method. This article focuses on the analytical description of the signals from the plastic scintillator detectors equipped with silicon photomultipliers. This description is crucial for establishing the ToT to charge relationship and implementing slewing correction techniques to improve the time resolution of the detector.