Performance Verification of the FlashCam Prototype Camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

TL;DR

This paper reports on the performance verification of the FlashCam prototype for CTA, demonstrating it meets and exceeds system requirements through comprehensive testing and stability assessments.

Contribution

It presents the first performance verification of the fully digital FlashCam prototype, highlighting its successful system testing and stability for CTA applications.

Findings

Signal chain and readout system surpass CTA requirements

System stability confirmed through long-term temperature cycling

Prototype nearing completion with positive initial test results

Abstract

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a future gamma-ray observatory that is planned to significantly improve upon the sensitivity and precision of the current generation of Cherenkov telescopes. The observatory will consist of several dozens of telescopes with different sizes and equipped with different types of cameras. Of these, the FlashCam camera system is the first to implement a fully digital signal processing chain which allows for a traceable, configurable trigger scheme and flexible signal reconstruction. As of autumn 2016, a prototype FlashCam camera for the medium-sized telescopes of CTA nears completion. First results of the ongoing system tests demonstrate that the signal chain and the readout system surpass CTA requirements. The stability of the system is shown using long-term temperature cycling.