Time resolution of BC422 plastic scintillator read out by a SiPM

TL;DR

This paper measures the time resolution of BC422 plastic scintillator read out by SiPMs, achieving a record 6ps, demonstrating significant progress in detector technology over recent years.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of the time resolution of BC422 scintillator with SiPMs, showing a threefold improvement over previous results.

Findings

Achieved a time resolution of about 6ps with BC422 and SiPMs

Demonstrated significant progress in SiPM technology since 2012

Provided data for comparing different plastic scintillator detectors

Abstract

Plastic scintillators are widely used in particle detectors when precise timing information is required. As a basis for comparing different detectors we use such a characteristic as the time resolution per 1MeV detected energy, i.e. the expected time resolution assuming the deposited energy in the scintillator equals to 1MeV and all the scintillation light is collected to the photosensor. In this work we measure this parameter with BC422 plastic scintillator read out by different SiPMs. The best obtained value is about 6ps, which is almost a factor of 3 better compared to our earlier result from 2012. Such an improvement represents the progress in the development of SiPMs made over these years and, driven by this progress, an improved knowledge and know-how on such detectors.