Characterization of a scintillating fibers read by MPPC detectors trigger prototype for the AMADEUS experiment

TL;DR

This paper evaluates a scintillating fiber and MPPC detector prototype for particle detection and triggering in the AMADEUS experiment, demonstrating high efficiency and reliable performance in a mixed particle beam.

Contribution

It presents the design, implementation, and testing of a novel scintillating fiber readout system using MPPCs for particle detection in a trigger setup.

Findings

Detection efficiency for protons was 96.9% in double-layer configuration.

System successfully detected and triggered on various particles at 440 MeV/c.

Prototype demonstrated suitability for use in the AMADEUS experiment.

Abstract

Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPC) consist of hundreds of micro silicon Avalanche PhotoDiodes (APD) working in Geiger mode. The high gain and the low noise, typical of these devices, together with their good performance in magnetic field, make them ideal readout detectors for scintillating fibers as trigger detectors in particle and nuclear physics experiments like AMADEUS, where such detectors are planned to be used to trigger on charged kaon pairs. In order to investigate the detection efficiency of such a system, a prototype setup consisting of 32, 1 mm diameter scintillating fibers, arranged in two double layers of 16 fibers each, and read out by 64 MPPCs with an ad-hoc built readout electronics, was tested at the piM-1 line of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland. The detection efficiency and the trigger capability were measured on a beam containing protons, electrons, muons and pions with a momentum of 440 MeV/c. The measured average efficiency for protons for a double layer of scintillating fibers (96.9 +/-1.2%) represents a guarantee of the good performance of this system as a trigger for the AMADEUS experiment.