Design and Performance of the Upgraded Prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope Camera Module
Abstract
The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) is a ground-based observatory that will improve upon the sensitivities of the current generation of very-high-energy gamma-ray instruments. The Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT) is a dual-mirror candidate design for a CTAO Medium-Sized Telescope (MST). The prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT) was inaugurated in 2019 at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in Arizona and observed significant gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula with a partially populated camera. The pSCT camera is currently being upgraded to fully instrument the focal plane with 11,328 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) pixels split between 177 camera modules. Additionally, the modules will feature upgraded electronics designed to reduce electronics crosstalk and noise. A module calibration procedure has been developed using a preproduction test module. Following this calibration procedure, performance testing shows that the upgrade module has low noise, minimal electronics crosstalk, and excellent charge resolution. After calibration and optimization, the 177 production modules will be installed in the pSCT camera for commissioning. This will be followed by observations of known VHE gamma-ray sources for camera performance validation.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.12529,
title = {Design and Performance of the Upgraded Prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope Camera Module},
author = {Giovanni Ambrosi and Carla Aramo and Mattia Barbanera and Chiara Bartolini and Wystan Benbow and Bruna Bertucci and Elisabetta Bissaldi and Massimiliano Bitossi and Massimo Capasso and Mirco Caprai and Davide Cerasole and Zachary Curtis-Ginsberg and Gaia De Palma and Leonardo Di Venere and Miguel Escobar Godoy and Qi Feng and Emanuele Fiandrini and Lucy Fortson and Stefan Funk and Amy Furniss and Alasdair Gent and Stefano Germani and Nicola Giglietto and Francesco Giordano and William Hanlon and Sam Heiman and Olivier Hervet and Maria Ionica and Weidong Jin and David Kieda and Francesco Licciulli and Pierpaolo Loizzo and Serena Loporchio and Giovanni Marsella and Reshmi Mukherjee and Nepomuk Otte and Francesca Romana Pantaleo and Riccardo Paoletti and Deivid Ribeiro and Luca Riitano and Emmet Roache and Duncan Ross and Lab Saha and Heiko Salzmann and Benjamin Schwab and Ruo-Yu Shang and Gianluigi Silvestre and Leonardo Stiaccini and Hiroyasu Tajima and Svanik Tandon and Giovanni Tripodo and Justin Vandenbroucke and Vladimir V. Vassiliev and Richard White and David A. Williams and Adrian Zink},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.12529},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
58 pages, 38 figures, 2 tables