Design of an Efficient, High-Throughput Photomultiplier Tube Testing Facility for the IceCube Upgrade

TL;DR

This paper describes a high-throughput testing facility for over 10,000 photomultiplier tubes needed for the IceCube Upgrade, enabling rapid testing and calibration at low temperatures to support large-scale neutrino detection projects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, scalable testing setup capable of simultaneously testing up to 100 PMTs per day at -20°C, significantly increasing throughput for large detector projects.

Findings

Achieved testing of approximately 1,000 PMTs per week

Designed a testing system operational at -20°C

Enabled rapid calibration for large-scale neutrino detectors

Abstract

The IceCube Upgrade is an extension of the IceCube detector at the geographic South Pole. It consists of seven new strings with novel instrumentation. More than 430 multi-PMT optical modules called "mDOMs", housing 24 3-inch PMTs each, will be produced for the Upgrade. This will require testing and pre-calibration on a short timescale of more than 10,000 PMTs prior to assembly and deployment. We present the design of a PMT testing facility that enables simultaneous testing of roughly 100 PMTs per day at temperatures down to -20{\deg}C. The design is implemented at RWTH Aachen University and TU Dortmund University in parallel to achieve a throughput of up to 1,000 PMTs per week. This will enable a steady supply of tested PMTs to the production sites, which is critical for the Upgrade, as well as the future IceCube-Gen2 project.