Absolute Calibration of a Large-diameter Light Source

TL;DR

This paper presents a method for the absolute calibration of large aperture optical systems, demonstrated on the Pierre Auger Observatory fluorescence detectors, achieving a 2.1% uncertainty at 365 nm using a 2.5 m light source.

Contribution

It introduces a calibration technique for large optical systems using a large-diameter light source with quantified uncertainty.

Findings

Achieved 2.1% calibration uncertainty at 365 nm.

Demonstrated calibration method on Pierre Auger Observatory detectors.

Validated the effectiveness of a 2.5 m diameter light source.

Abstract

A method of absolute calibration for large aperture optical systems is presented, using the example of the Pierre Auger Observatory fluorescence detectors. A 2.5 m diameter light source illuminated by an ultra--violet light emitting diode is calibrated with an overall uncertainty of 2.1 % at a wavelength of 365 nm.