Performance testing of a novel short axis photomultiplier tube for the HUNT project

TL;DR

This paper presents the development and performance testing of a new 20-inch microchannel plate photomultiplier tube designed for the HUNT neutrino telescope, demonstrating its suitability through specific performance measurements.

Contribution

Introduces a modified 20-inch MCP-PMT with a compact design suitable for HUNT, and provides detailed performance evaluation results.

Findings

PMT meets HUNT project requirements

Good peak-to-valley ratio and TTS performance

Successful adaptation for pressure-resistant sphere

Abstract

Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with large-area cathodes are increasingly being used in cosmic-ray experiments to enhance detection efficiency. The optical modules (OMs) of the High-Energy Underwater Neutrino Telescope (HUNT) have employed a brand new N6205 20-inch microchannel plate photomultiplier tube (MCP-PMT) developed by the North Night Vision Science & Technology (Nanjing) Research Institute Co. Ltd. (NNVT). In order to make the 20-inch PMT fit into the 23-inch diameter pressure-resistant glass sphere, NNVT improved the internal structure of PMT and shortened the height of PMT by more than 10~cm. The first batch of these PMTs has been delivered for preliminary research work. This paper describes a specific PMT testing platform built for the first batch of 15 MCP-PMTs, and some performance parameters of PMT, such as peak-to-valley ratio, TTS and nonliniearity, are measured. The measurement results show that the new PMT still has good performance and can meet the requirements of HUNT project.