The SST-1M camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

TL;DR

The paper presents the design, development, and testing of the compact SST-1M camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array, featuring innovative silicon photomultiplier technology and a digital readout system for high-performance astrophysical observations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel camera design with large-area hexagonal silicon photomultipliers and a fully digital readout system for CTA's SSTs, emphasizing innovation and performance.

Findings

Successful development of the photo-detection plane

Effective calibration and testing procedures established

Camera ready for installation in the CTA project

Abstract

The prototype camera of the single-mirror Small Size Telescopes (SST-1M) proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project has been designed to be very compact and to deliver high performance over thirty years of operation. The camera is composed of an hexagonal photo-detection plane made of custom designed large area hexagonal silicon photomultipliers and a high throughput, highly configurable, fully digital readout and trigger system (DigiCam). The camera will be installed on the telescope structure at the H. Niewodnicza{\'n}ski institute of Nuclear Physics in Krakow in fall 2015. In this contribution, we review the steps that led to the development of the innovative photo-detection plane and readout electronics, and we describe the test and calibration strategy adopted.