Studies of VERITAS Photomultipliers After Eight Years of Use

TL;DR

This study evaluates the aging of VERITAS gamma-ray telescope PMTs after eight years of operation, finding minimal degradation and no need for replacement, thus supporting continued use into the mid 2020s.

Contribution

The paper provides empirical evidence that Hamamatsu R10560-100-20 PMTs maintain performance after eight years of use in a gamma-ray telescope.

Findings

No significant aging observed in used PMTs

Used and unused PMTs show similar gain and response

PMTs are suitable for continued operation

Abstract

The VERITAS gamma-ray telescope array has been operating since 2007 and has been equipped with Hamamatsu R10560-100-20 PMTs since 2012. A decision to continue operations into the mid 2020s was taken in 2019 so the question of whether the PMTs would need replacing became important and a study was initiated. We present results from scanning two groups of 20 Hamamatsu R10560-100-20 PMTs with an LED flasher. One group comprised five PMTs from each of the four VERITAS telescopes and the other was made up of 20 PMTs of the same type, and date of manufacture, that had never been used. We measured three test variables related to gains and high-voltage response and found that there were no significant differences between the two groups. This indicates that there has been little ageing in the PMTs that have been used on the telescopes and that replacement is unnecessary.