Deep sea tests of a prototype of the KM3NeT digital optical module

S. Adrian-Martinez*, M. Ageron, F. Aharonian, S. Aiello, A. Albert, F. Ameli, E. G. Anassontzis, M. Anghinolfi, G. Anton, S. Anvar, M. Ardid, R. de Asmundis, K. Balasi, H. Band, G. Barbarino, E. Barbarito, F. Barbato, B. Baret, S. Baron, A. BeliasE. Berbee, A. M. van den Berg, A. Berkien, V. Bertin, S. Beurthey, V. van Beveren, N. Beverini, S. Biagi, S. Bianucci, M. Billault, A. Birbas, H. Boer Rookhuizen, R. Bormuth, V. Bouche, B. Bouhadef, G. Bourlis, M. Bouwhuis, C. Bozza, R. Bruijn, J. Brunner, G. Cacopardo, L. Caillat, M. Calamai, D. Calvo, A. Capone, L. Caramete, F. Caruso, S. Cecchini, A. Ceres, R. Cereseto, C. Champion, F. Chateau, T. Chiarusi, B. Christopoulou, M. Circella, L. Classen, R. Cocimano, S. Colonges, R. Coniglione, A. Cosquer, M. Costa, P. Coyle, A. Creusot, C. Curtil, G. Cuttone, C. D'Amato, A. D'Amico, G. De Bonis, G. De Rosa, N. Deniskina, J-J. Destelle, C. Distefano, C. Donzaud, D. Dornic, Q. Dorosti-Hasankiadeh, E. Drakopoulou, D. Drouhin, L. Drury, D. Durand, T. Eberl, C. Eleftheriadis, D. Elsaesser, A. Enzenhoefer, P. Fermani, L. A. Fusco, D. Gajana, T. Gal, S. Galata, F. Gallo, F. Garufi, M. Gebyehu, V. Giordano, N. Gizani, R. Gracia Ruiz, K. Graf, R. Grasso, G. Grella, A. Grmek, R. Habel, H. van Haren, T. Heid, A. Heijboer, E. Heine, S. Henry, J. J. Hernandez-Rey, B. Herold, M. A. Hevinga, M. van der Hoek, J. Hofestaedt, J. Hogenbirk, C. Hugon, J. Hoessl, M. Imbesi, C. James, P. Jansweijer, J. Jochum, M. de Jong, M. Kadler, O. Kalekin, A. Kappes, E. Kappos, U. Katz, O. Kavatsyuk, P. Keller, G. Kieft, E. Koffeman, H. Kok, P. Kooijman, J. Koopstra, A. Korporaal, A. Kouchner, S. Koutsoukos, I. Kreykenbohm, V. Kulikovskiy, R. Lahmann, P. Lamare, G. Larosa, D. Lattuada, H. Le Provost, A. Leisos, D. Lenis, E. Leonora, M. Lindsey Clark, A. Liolios, C. D. Llorens Alvarez, H. Loehner, D. Lo Presti, F. Louis, E. Maccioni, K. Mannheim, K. Manolopoulos, A. Margiotta, O. Maris, C. Markou, J. A. Martinez-Mora, A. Martini, R. Masullo, T. Michael, P. Migliozzi, E. Migneco, A. Miraglia, C. Mollo, M. Mongelli, M. Morganti, S. Mos, Y. Moudden, P. Musico, M. Musumeci, C. Nicolaou, C. A. Nicolau, A. Orlando, A. Orzelli, K. Papageorgiou, A. Papaikonomou, R. Papaleo, G. E. Pavalas, H. Peek, C. Pellegrino, M. G. Pellegriti, C. Perrina, C. Petridou, P. Piattelli, K. Pikounis, V. Popa, Th Pradier, M. Priede, G. Puehlhofer, S. Pulvirenti, C. Racca, F. Raffaelli, N. Randazzo, P. A. Rapidis, P. Razis, D. Real, L. Resvanis, J. Reubelt, G. Riccobene, A. Rovelli, J. Royon, M. Saldana, D. F. E. Samtleben, M. Sanguineti, A. Santangelo, P. Sapienza, I. Savvidis, J. Schmelling, J. Schnabel, M. Sedita, T. Seitz, I. Sgura, F. Simeone, I. Siotis, V. Sipala, M. Solazzo, A. Spitaleri, M. Spurio, G. Stavropoulos, J. Steijger, T. Stolarczyk, D. Stransky, M. Taiuti, G. Terreni, D. Tezier, S. Theraube, L. F. Thompson, P. Timmer, H. I. Trapierakis, L. Trasatti, A. Trovato, M. Tselengidou, A. Tsirigotis, S. Tzamarias, E. Tzamariudaki, B. Vallage, V. Van Elewyck, J. Vermeulen, P. Vernin, S. Viola, D. Vivolo, P. Werneke, L. Wiggers, J. Wilms, E. de Wolf, R. H. L. van Wooning, K. Yatkin, K. Zachariadou, E. Zonca, J. D. Zornoza, J. Zuniga, A. Zwart

*Corresponding author for this work

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    Abstract

    The first prototype of a photo-detection unit of the future KM3NeT neutrino telescope has been deployed in the deepwaters of the Mediterranean Sea. This digital optical module has a novel design with a very large photocathode area segmented by the use of 31 three inch photomultiplier tubes. It has been integrated in the ANTARES detector for in-situ testing and validation. This paper reports on the first months of data taking and rate measurements. The analysis results highlight the capabilities of the new module design in terms of background suppression and signal recognition. The directionality of the optical module enables the recognition of multiple Cherenkov photons from the same (40)Kdecay and the localisation of bioluminescent activity in the neighbourhood. The single unit can cleanly identify atmospheric muons and provide sensitivity to the muon arrival directions.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number3056
    Number of pages8
    JournalThe European Physical Journal C
    Volume74
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 26-Sept-2014

    Keywords

    • DATA-ACQUISITION
    • NEUTRINOS
    • READOUT
    • TELESCOPE
    • DESIGN
    • SYSTEM

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