Development of an advanced SiPM camera for the Large Size Telescope of the Cherenkov TelescopeArray Observatory

Abstract

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have become the baseline choice for cameras of the smallsized telescopes (SSTs) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). On the other hand, SiPMs are relatively new to the field and covering large surfaces and operating at high data rates still are challenges to outperform photomultipliers (PMTs). The higher sensitivity in the near infra-red and longer signals compared to PMTs result in higher night sky background rate for SiPMs. However, the robustness of the SiPMs represents a unique opportunity to ensure long-term operation with low maintenance and better duty cycle than PMTs. The proposed camera for large size telescopes will feature 0.05 • pixels, low power and fast front-end electronics and a fully digital readout. In this work, we present the status of dedicated simulations and data analysis for the performance estimation. The design features and the different strategies identified, so far, to tackle the demanding requirements and the improved performance are described.