Göttingen 2012 – scientific programme
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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 93: Gammaastronomie 5
T 93.1: Talk
Friday, March 2, 2012, 08:30–08:45, ZHG 008
PATRICIA, a powerful Cherenkov telescope camera concept based on Geigermode-APD light sensors — Eckart Lorenz1 and •Robert Wagner1,2 — 1MPI für Physik, 80805 München — 2Excellence Cluster "Universe", 85748 Garching b. München
We present a concept for a new powerful camera for the 23-m diameter large-size Cherenkov telescopes for the CTA observatory. It is equally suited for any other imaging Cherenkov telescope. PATRICIA (Powerful Atmospheric Telescope Camera for RecordIng Cherenkov LIght with g-Apds) is based on Geigermode avalanche photodiodes (G-APD) as light sensors. The camera is split in a sensor plane and both the readout and trigger electronics of the telescope array located in a central container. Analog signals will be transmitted by optical fibers to a readout container. The thin pizzabox-like camera with a 4.5-degree field of view and 0.1-degree pixels will weigh less than a ton and has a considerably lower wind resistance compared to a conventional PMT camera. The camera requires below 1 kW power and simple cooling by Peltier elements is possible. The key light sensor element will be a multi-element G-APD structure of hexagonal shape and 5 sqcm active area, replacing nearly 1:1 the current PMT design. The sensitivity will be at least 1.5 times superior compared to currently proposed PMTs. Importantly, the camera can work at full moonshine, allowing a gain of at least 30-40% in observation time. About 1-2 years of development time is needed.