Characterization of Silicon-Photomultipliers for a Cosmic Muon Veto detector

TL;DR

This paper details the characterization and calibration of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) for a cosmic muon veto detector, including methods for gain measurement, overvoltage selection, and efficiency evaluation in a neutrino observatory context.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive system for SiPM characterization and compares calibration methods, optimizing detector performance for cosmic muon detection.

Findings

Effective calibration methods for SiPM gain and overvoltage.

Comparison of LED-based, noise data, and radioactive source calibration.

Optimized muon detection efficiency for the veto detector.

Abstract

A Cosmic Muon Veto (CMV) detector using extruded scintillators is being designed around the mini-Iron Calorimeter detector at the transit campus of the India-based Neutrino Observatory at Madurai for measuring its efficiency at shallow depth underground experiments. The scintillation signal is transmitted through a Wavelength Shifting (WLS) fibre and readout by Hamamatsu Silicon-Photomultipliers (SiPMs). A Light Emitting Diode (LED) system is included on the front-end readout for in-situ calibration of the gain of each SiPM. A characterization system was developed for the measurement of gain and choice of the overvoltage (Vov) of SiPMs using LED as well as a cosmic muon telescope. The Vov is obtained by studying the noise rate, the gain of the SiPM, and the muon detection efficiency. In case of any malfunction of the LED system during the operation, the SiPM can also be calibrated with the noise data as well as using radioactive sources. This paper describes the basic characteristics of the SiPM and the comparison of the calibration results using all three methods, as well as the Vov of the SiPMs and muon selection criteria for the veto detector.