Temperature dependence of the plastic scintillator detector for DAMPE

TL;DR

This study investigates how temperature variations from -10°C to 30°C affect the Plastic Scintillator Detector in DAMPE, identifying the main contributors and implementing corrections to minimize temperature-induced signal variations.

Contribution

The paper provides a detailed analysis of temperature effects on each component of the PSD and introduces a correction method to reduce temperature-related signal variations.

Findings

PMT temperature coefficient is approximately -0.320%/°C.

Plastic scintillator bar has negligible temperature dependence.

Temperature correction effectively suppresses temperature effects on the PSD signal.

Abstract

The Plastic Scintillator Detector (PSD) is one of the main sub-detectors in the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) project. It will be operated over a large temperature range from -$10$ to $30^{\circ}$C, so the temperature effect of the whole detection system should be studied in detail. The temperature dependence of the PSD system is mainly contributed by the three parts: the plastic scintillator bar, the photomultiplier tube (PMT), and the Front End Electronics (FEE). These three parts have been studied in detail and the contribution of each part has been obtained and discussed. The temperature coefficient of the PMT is $-0.320(\pm0.033)\%/^{\circ}$C, and the coefficient of the plastic scintillator bar is $-0.036(\pm0.038)\%/^{\circ}$C. This result means that after subtracting the FEE pedestal, the variation of the signal amplitude of the PMT-scintillator system due to temperature mainly comes from the PMT, and the plastic scintillator bar is not sensitive to temperature over the operating range. Since the temperature effect cannot be ignored, the temperature dependence of the whole PSD has been also studied and a correction has been made to minimize this effect. The correction result shows that the effect of temperature on the signal amplitude of the PSD system can be suppressed.