Detection of optical photons with the Timepix in an HPD set-up

Abstract

Neutrino telescopes such as ANTARES and KM3NeT measure Cherenkov light which is emitted by muons. To reconstruct the track of a muon a time resolution of about 2ns is needed. We have developed a new concept of a hybrid photon detector (HPD) based on the pixelated semiconductor detector Timepix which was designed in the frame of the international Medipix collaboration with support of the EUDET project. We present measurements carried out with a simplified test set-up of an HPD using the Timepix to provide the proof of principle. Time resolution, imaging properties and dark rate were investigated with these measurements.