An innovative silicon photomultiplier digitizing camera for gamma-ray astronomy

Abstract

The single-mirror small-size telescope (SST-1M) is one of the three proposed designs for the small-size telescopes (SSTs) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project. The SST-1M will be equipped with a 4 m-diameter segmented mirror dish and an innovative fully digital camera based on silicon photo-multipliers (SiPMs). Since the SST sub-array will consist of up to 70 telescopes, the challenge is not only to build a telescope with excellent performance, but also to design it so that its components can be commissioned, assembled and tested by industry. In this paper we review the basic steps that led to the design concepts for the SST-1M camera and the ongoing realization of the first prototype, with focus on the innovative solutions adopted for the photodetector plane and the readout and trigger parts of the camera. In addition, we report on results of laboratory measurements on real scale elements that validate the camera design and show that it is capable of matching the CTA requirements of operating up to high-moon-light background conditions.

30 pages, 61 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Observations of the Crab Nebula with H.E.S.S
• Calibration and performance of the photon sensor response of FACT -- The First G-APD Cherenkov telescope
• Optimization of the Collection Efficiency of a Hexagonal Light Collector using Quadratic and Cubic Bézier Curves

Cited by in corpus (15)

• Construction and On-site Performance of the LHAASO WFCTA Camera
• The Light-Trap: A novel concept for a large SiPM-based pixel for Very High Energy gamma-ray astronomy and beyond
• Towards a Polarisation Prediction for LISA via Intensity Interferometry
• SiPM behaviour under continuous light
• An analysis method for data taken by Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes at very high energies under the presence of clouds
• The SST-1M imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope for gamma-ray astrophysics
• A study on Performance Boost of a 17~m class Cherenkov telescope with a SiPM-based camera
• Cherenkov Telescope Array Status Report
• Monte Carlo study of a single SST-1M prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
• Characterisation of the MUSIC ASIC for large-area silicon photomultipliers for gamma-ray astronomy
• Observation of the Crab Nebula with the Single-Mirror Small-Size Telescope stereoscopic system at low altitude
• Light-Trap: A SiPM Upgrade for Very High Energy Astronomy and Beyond
• Exact solutions for silicon photomultipliers models and application to measurements
• Development of a blue-mirror multilayer coating on light concentrators for future SiPM cameras
• Prospects for the detection of gamma rays using Cherenkov telescopes enhanced by a ground array observatory