Performance of the D-Egg Optical Sensor for the IceCube Upgrade

TL;DR

The paper evaluates the performance of the D-Egg optical sensors, developed for the IceCube Upgrade, highlighting their enhanced photon detection capabilities and advanced electronics for efficient neutrino detection.

Contribution

It introduces the D-Egg sensor design, detailing its improved photocathode area, digitization technology, and performance metrics based on mass-produced units for the IceCube Upgrade.

Findings

High single-photon detection efficiency

Effective recording of signals exceeding 200 PE within 10 ns

Successful deployment of 288 D-Eggs in IceCube Upgrade

Abstract

New optical sensors called the "D-Egg" have been developed for cost-effective instrumentation for the IceCube Upgrade. With two 8-inch high quantum efficient photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), they offer increased effective photocathode area while retaining as much of the successful IceCube Digital Optical Module design as possible. Mass production of D-Eggs has started in 2020. By the end of 2021, there will be 310 D-Eggs produced with 288 deployed in the IceCube Upgrade. The D-Egg readout system uses advanced technologies in electronics and computing power. Each of the two PMT signals is digitised using ultra-low-power 14-bit ADCs with a sampling frequency of 240 megaSPS, enabling seamless and lossless event recording from single-photon signals to signals exceeding 200 PE within 10 nanosecond, as well as flexible event triggering. In this paper, we report the single photon detection performance as well as the multiple photon recording capability of D-Eggs from the mass production line which have been evaluated with the built-in data acquisition system.