Abstract
Due to its sensitivity and speed, the detector still widely used in Cerenkov astrophysics experiments remains the PhotoMultiplier Tube (PMT). For instance, recent pathbreaking experiments in Very High Energy astrophysics (VHE), such as MAGIC and HESS, have used mainstream PMT technology [Aharonian, F. et al Astron. Astrophys. 492(1):L25–L28 (2008)]. Moreover the Cerenkov Telescope Array (CTA) which is now in its design phase, is also planed to be based on PMT’s. However, there are some disadvantages to the PMT technology: the rather poor quantum efficiency, the use of high voltages, the high cost when used in large number in a matrix arrangement and the large weight. Hence, we have investigated the possibility to design future Cerenkov telescopes based on solid state technology, specifically Geiger avalanche photodiodes. In a preliminary development test, we placed HAMAMATSU avalanche photodiodes at the focal plane of a 60 cm diameter telescope at the Pic du Midi in the French Pyrénées, in order to record incident cosmic rays. In this paper, we describe not only the experimental setup but we also put special emphasis to the reduction of the semi-conductor noise. We also show first data that were recorded during two runs in the fall of 2006, and conclude by the presentation of the design of an “integrated, low-cost solid state photodiode arrangement” which might be an alternative to PMT’s for future VHE telescopes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Weekes, T.C., Cawlley, M.F., Fegan, D.J., Gibbs, K.G., Hillas, A.M., Kwok, P.W., Lamb, R.C., Lewis, D.A., Macomb, D., Porter, N.A., Reynolds, P.T., Vacanti, G.: Observation of TEV gamma-rays from the Crab-Nebula using the atmospheric Cerenkov imaging technique. Astrophys. J. 342(1), 379–395 (1989)
Goret, P., Palfrey, T., Tabary, A., Vacanti, G., Bazer-Bachi, R.: Observations of TEV gamma-rays from the Crab-Nebula. Astron. Astrophys. 270(1–2), 401–406 (1993)
Djannati-Atai, A., Piron, F., Barrau, A., Iacoucci, L., Punch, M., Tavernet, J.-P., Bazer-Bachi, R., Cabot, H., Chounet, L.M., Debiais, G., Degrange, B., Dezalay, J.-P., Dumora, D., Espigat, P., Fabre, B., Fleury, P., Fontaine, G., Ghesquiere, C., Goret, P., Gouiffes, C., Grenier, I.A., Le Bohec, S., Malet, I., Meynadier, C., Mohanty, G., Nuss, E., Pare, E., Quebert, J., Ragan, K., Renault, C., Rivoal, M., Rob, L., Schahmaneche, K., Smith, D.A.: Very high energy gamma-ray spectral properties of Mkn 501 from CAT Cerenkov telescope observations in 1997. Astron. Astrophys. 350(1), 17–24 (1999)
de Naurois, M., Holder, J., Bazer-Bachi, R., Begeret, H., Bruel, P., Cordier, A., Debiais, G., Dezalay, J.-P., Dumora, D., Durand, E., Eschstruth, P., Espigat, P., Fabre, B., Fleury, P., Herault, N., Hrabovsky, M., Incerti, S., Le Gallou, R., Munz, F., Musquere, A., Olive, J.-F., Pare, E., Quebert, J., Rannot, R.C., Reposeur, T., Rob, L., Roy, P., Sako, T., Schovanek, P., Smith, D.A., Snabre, P., Volte, A.: Measurement of the Crab flux above 60 GeV with the Celeste Cerenkov telescope. Astrophys. J. 566(1), 343–357 (2002)
Albert, J., Aliu, E., Anderhub, H., Antoranz, P., Armada, A., Asensio, M., Baixeras, C., Barrio, J.A., Bartelt, M., Bartko, H., Bastieri, D., Bavikadi, R., Bednarek, W., Berger, K., Bigongiari, C., Biland, A., Bisesi, E., Bock, R.K., Bretz, T., Britvitch, I., Camara, M., Chilingarian, A., Ciprini, S., Coarasa, J.A., Commichau, S., Contreras, J.L., Cortina, J., Curtef, V., Danielyan, V., Dazzi, F., De Angelis, A., De Los Reyes, R., De Lotto, B., Domingo-Santamaria, E., Dorner, D., Doro, M., Errando, M., Fagiolini, M., Ferenc, D., Fernandez, E., Firpo, R., Flix, J., Fonseca, M.V., Font, L., Galante, N., Garczarczyk, M., Gaug, M., Giller, M., Goebel, F., Hakobyan, D., Hayashida, M., Hengstebeck, T., Hohne, D., Hose, J., Jacon, P., Kalekin, O., Kranich, D., Laille, A., Lenisa, T., Liebing, P., Lindfors, E., Longo, F., Lopez, J., Lopez, M., Lorenz, E., Lucarelli, F., Majumdar, P., Maneva, G., Mannheim, K., Mariotti, M., Martinez, M., Mase, K., Mazin, D., Meucci, M., Meyer, M., Miranda, J.M., Mirzoyan, R., Mizobuchi, S., Moralejo, A., Nilsson, K., Ona-Wilhelmi, E., Orduna, R., Otte, N., Oya, I., Paneque, D., Paoletti, R., Pasanen, M., Pascoli, D., Pauss, F., Pavel, N., Pegna, R., Persic, M., Peruzzo, L., Piccioli, A., Prandini, E., Rhode, W., Rico, J., Riegel, B., Rissi, M., Robert, A., Rugamer, S., Saggion, A., Sanchez, A., Sartori, P., Scalzotto, V., Schmitt, R., Schweizer, T., Shayduk, M., Shinozaki, K., Shore, S., Sidro, N., Sillanpaa, A., Sobczynska, D., Stamerra, A., Stark, L.S., Takalo, L., Temnikov, P., Tescaro, D., Teshima, M., Tonello, N., Torres, A., Torres, D.F., Turini, N., Vankov, H., Vardanyan, A., Vitale, V., Wagner, R.M., Wibig, T., Wittek, W., Zapatero, J.: Flux upper limit on gamma-ray emission by GRB 050713a from magic telescope observations. Astrophys. J. 641(1), L9–L12 (2006)
Aharonian, F., Akhperjanian, A.G., de Almeida, U., Bazer-Bachi, A.R., Becherini, Y., Behera, B., Benbow, W., Bernloehr, K., Boisson, C., Bochow, A., Borrel, V., Braun, I., Brion, E., Brucker, J., Brun, P., Buehler, R., Bulik, T., Buesching, I., Boutelier, T., Carrigan, S., Chadwick, P.M., Charbonnier, A., Chaves, R.C.G., Cheesebrough, A., Chounet, L.-M., Clapson, A.C., Coignet, G., Dalton, M., Degrange, B., Deil, C., Dickinson, H.J., Djannati-Atai, A., Domainko, W., Drury, L.O., Dubois, F., Dubus, G., Dyks, J., Dyrda, M., Egberts, K., Emmanoulopoulos, D., Espigat, P., Farnier, C., Feinstein, F., Fiasson, A., Foerster, A., Fontaine, G., Fuessling, M., Gabici, S., Gallant, Y.A., Gerard, L., Giebels, B., Glicenstein, J.F., Glueck, B., Goret, P., Hadjichristidis, C., Hauser, D., Hauser, M., Heinz, S., Heinzelmann, G., Henri, G., Hermann, G., Hinton, J.A., Hoffmann, A., Hofmann, W., Holleran, M., Hoppe, S., Horns, D., Jacholkowska, A., de Jager, O.C., Jung, I., Katarzynski, K., Kaufmann, S., Kendziorra, E., Kerschhaggl, M., Khangulyan, D., Khelifi, B., Keogh, D., Komin, N., Kosack, K., Lamanna, G., Lenain, J.-P., Lohse, T., Marandon, V., Martin, J.M., Martineau-Huynh, O., Marcowith, A., Maurin, D., McComb, T.J.L., Medina, M.C., Moderski, R., Moulin, E., Naumann-Godo, M., de Naurois, M., Nedbal, D., Nekrassov, D., Niemiec, J., Nolan, S.J., Ohm, S., Olive, J.-F., Wilhelmi, E.D., Orford, K.J., Osborne J.L., Ostrowski, M., Panter, M., Arribas, M., Pedaletti, G., Pelletier, G., Petrucci, P.-O., Pita, S., Puehlhofer, G., Punch, M., Quirrenbach, A., Raubenheimer, B.C., Raue, M., Rayner, S.M., Renaud, M., Rieger, F., Ripken, J., Rob, L., Rosier-Lees, S., Rowell, G., Rudak, B., Rulten, C.B., Ruppel, J., Sahakian, V., Santangelo, A., Schlickeiser, R., Schoeck, F.M., Schroeder, R., Schwanke, U., Schwarzburg, S., Schwemmer, S., Shalchi, A., Skilton, J.L., Sol, H., Spangler, D., Stawarz, L., Steenkamp, R., Stegmann, C., Superina, G., Tam, P.H., Tavernet, J.-P., Terrier, R., Tibolla, O., van Eldik, C., Vasileiadis, G., Venter, C., Vialle, J.P., Vincent, P., Vivier, M., Voelk, H.J., Volpe, F., Wagner, S.J., Ward, M., Zdziarski, A.A., Zech, A.: Simultaneous HESS and Chandra observations of Sagitarius A(star) during an X-ray flare. Astron. Astrophys. 492(1), L25–L28 (2008)
Zappa, F., Tisa, S., Tosi, A., Cova, S.: Principles and features of single-photon avalanche diode arrays. Sens. Actuators A, Phys. 140, 103–112 (2007)
Jackson, J.C., Phelan, D., Morrison, A.P., Redfern, M., Mathewson, A.: Toward integrated single-photon-counting microarrays. Opt. Eng. 1(42), 112–118 (2003)
Bhat, P.N., Murthy, P.V.R.: Angular-distribution of low-energy Cosmic-Ray Muons Underground. J. Phys. G., Nucl. Phys. 4(3), 453–469 (1978)
Cosmic Rays, Gaisser, T.K., Stanev, T., (Bartol Research Inst, Univ. of Delaware), 2002, Rev. Sokolsky, P.V. (Univ. of Utah), R.E.Streitmatter, 2005
Buzhan, P., Dolgoshein, B., Filatov, L., Ilyin, A., Kantzerov, V., Kaplin, V., Karakash, A., Kayumov, F., Klemin, S., Popova, E., Smirnov, S.: Silicon photomultiplier and its possible applications. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 504, 48–52 (2003)
Bitossi, M., Cecchi, R., Paoletti, R., Pegna, R., Turini, N., Barcelò, M., Illa, J.M.: The data acquisition system of the MAGiC-II telescope. In: IDAACS 2007: Proceedings of the 4th IEEE Workshop on Intelligent Data Acquisition and Advanced Computing Systems: Technology And Applications, pp. 60–62 (2007)
Biland, A., Britvich, I., Lorenz, E., Otte, N., Pauss, F., Renker, D., Ritt, S., Roesner, U., Scheebeli, M.: First detection of air shower Cerenkov light by Geigermode-Avalanche Photodiodes. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A, Accel. Spectrom. Detect. Assoc. Equip. 595(1), 165–168 (2008)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Prof Adam Walters for valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by Region Midi-Pyrénées and Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (France).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pellion, D., Jradi, K., Le Padellec, A. et al. Geiger avalanche photodiodes as tentative light detectors for VHE gamma ray astronomy. Exp Astron 27, 187–195 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-009-9182-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-009-9182-5