Multi-pixel Photon Counter for operating the tabletop cosmic-ray detector under loosely controlled conditions

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the performance of Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs) in a simple cosmic-ray detector setup under variable conditions, highlighting their suitability for educational and research applications.

Contribution

It introduces and tests the electrical and optical characteristics of MPPCs in loosely controlled environments for cosmic-ray detection.

Findings

MPPC shows high photon detection efficiency and fast timing response.

The setup effectively detects cosmic rays with low-cost components.

MPPC is suitable for portable, cost-effective cosmic-ray detectors.

Abstract

Multi-Pixel Photon Counter (MPPC) has been recently emerged and realized as a great type of Silicon Photomultiplier to replace or compensate for the conventional vacuum-based Photomultiplier tubes. MPPC provides many striking features such as high electrical gain, outstanding photon detection efficiency, fast timing response, immunity to the magnetic field, low-voltage operation, compactness, portability, and cost-effectiveness. The report introduces and examines the electrical and optical characteristics of the MPPC under loosely controlled environmental conditions. Also, we report a measurement of the light yield captured by the MPPC when the cosmic ray passes through the plastic scintillator, demonstrating that such setup is suitable to build a simple, cost-effective tabletop cosmic-ray detector for educational and research purposes.