Measurement of Smartphone Sensor Efficiency to Cosmic Ray Muons

TL;DR

This paper measures how effectively smartphone CMOS sensors detect cosmic ray muons, providing data crucial for assessing their potential in large-scale cosmic ray detection networks.

Contribution

It presents the first measurement of smartphone CMOS sensor efficiency to cosmic ray muons, linking sensor performance to cosmic ray detection feasibility.

Findings

Observed flux matches established cosmic ray muon flux values.

Sensor efficiency varies with the number of photo-electrons collected.

Results support the potential use of smartphones in cosmic ray air-shower detection.

Abstract

A measurement of the efficiency of CMOS sensors in smartphone cameras to cosmic ray muons is presented. A coincidence in external scintillators indicates the passage of a cosmic ray muon, allowing the measurement of the efficiency of the CMOS sensor. The observed flux is consistent with well-established values, and efficiencies are presented as a function of the number of photo-electrons collected from the CMOS silicon photodiode pixels. These efficiencies are vital to understanding the feasibility of large-scale smartphone networks operating as air-shower observatories.