Test and simulation of a Cherenkov picosecond timing counter

摘要

To study the picosecond timing technology, a counter with compact structure, fast timing, and relatively low material budget has been developed. The prototype is composed of Cherenkov radiator, micro-channel plate photoelectron multiplier tube (MCP-PMT), and fast readout electronics. The readout electronics consists of a programmable differential amplifier, a multi-threshold differential discriminator, and a timestamp Time-to-Digital converter implemented in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The beam test demonstrates that it can achieve an excellent time resolution around 10ps. Its timing performance is also evaluated by a Geant4 simulation framework. The test and simulation result are consistent and there is still potential for improvement.