The Development of SiPM-Based Fast Time-of-Flight Detector for the AMS-100 Experiment in Space

Chanhoon Chung,Waclaw Karpinski,Clemens Dittmar,Thomas Kirn,Stefan Schael,Georg Schwering,Daniel Louis,Theresa Backes,Michael Wlochal

doi:10.3390/instruments6010014

Abstract

AMS-100 is the next-generation high-energy cosmic-ray experiment in Space. It is designed as a magnetic spectrometer with a geometrical acceptance of 100 m2 · sr to be operated for ten years at the Sun–Earth Lagrange Point 2. Its Time-of-Flight (TOF) detector is a crucial sub-detector for the main trigger and the particle identification constructed from individual scintillation counters. A fast time measurement with a resolution of 20 ps for a single counter is required to cover wide energy ranges for particle identification. A prototype counter has been designed based on a fast plastic scintillator tile readout by two silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). An amplifier board was built to merge 16 SiPM channels into four readout channels in a hybrid connection. The signals are read out by a fast waveform digitizer. The timing performance was studied with electrons from a 90Sr source. A time resolution of 40 ps for a single counter has been achieved. Various operational and environmental conditions have been studied.

Highlights

AMS-100 [1] is the next-generation high-energy cosmic-ray experiment that is planned to succeed the currently operating AMS-02 [2] aboard the International Space Station
Each layer is constructed from individual scintillator tiles coupled to two silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) with a time resolution of σt = 20 ps, where σt is defined in Equation (2)
A TOF prototype for the AMS-100 experiment has been constructed and its performance has been studied under different operational and environmental conditions. This prototype consists of a 120 mm-long scintillator tile with a surface area of (25 × 6 mm2) coupled to two SiPMs at its opposite sides

Summary

Introduction

AMS-100 [1] is the next-generation high-energy cosmic-ray experiment that is planned to succeed the currently operating AMS-02 [2] aboard the International Space Station. It serves as a cosmic-ray observatory deployed near the Sun–Earth Lagrange Point 2 for the decade. The TOF covers a cylindrical surface with a length of 6 m and a radius of 2 m resulting in a total area of 75 m2. This time resolution allows identifying cosmic ray isotopes, such as 2H, 3He, 10Be, with high accuracy over a wide range of momenta

Methods

Results

Conclusion