Characterization of photomultiplier tubes with a realistic model through GPU-boosted simulation

Abstract

The accurate characterization of a photomultiplier tube (PMT) is crucial in a wide-variety of applications. However, current methods do not give fully accurate representations of the response of a PMT, especially at very low light levels. In this work, we present a new and more realistic model of the response of a PMT, called the cascade model, and use it to characterize two different PMTs at various voltages and light levels. The cascade model is shown to outperform the more common Gaussian model in almost all circumstances and to agree well with a newly introduced model independent approach. The technical and computational challenges of this model are also presented along with the employed solution of developing a robust GPU-based analysis framework for this and other non-analytical models.

References in corpus (3)

• emcee: The MCMC Hammer
• Model Independent Approach to the Single Photoelectron Calibration of Photomultiplier Tubes
• Measurement of light and charge yield of low-energy electronic recoils in liquid xenon

Cited by in corpus (5)

• In-situ characterization of the Hamamatsu R5912-HQE photomultiplier tubes used in the DEAP-3600 experiment
• Simultaneous measurement of the light and charge response of liquid xenon to low-energy nuclear recoils at multiple electric fields
• Measurement of performance of the NectarCAM photodetectors
• Optical properties of low background PEN structural components for the LEGEND-200 experiment
• First-principle event reconstruction by time-charge readouts for the Taishan Antineutrino Observatory