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arXiv · 2512.12529

Design and Performance of the Upgraded Prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope Camera Module

Giovanni Ambrosi·Carla Aramo·Mattia Barbanera·Chiara Bartolini·Wystan Benbow·Bruna Bertucci·Elisabetta Bissaldi·Massimiliano Bitossi·James H. Buckley·Massimo Capasso·Mirco Caprai·Davide Cerasole·Zachary Curtis-Ginsberg·Gaia De Palma·Leonardo Di Venere·Miguel Escobar Godoy·Qi Feng·Emanuele Fiandrini·Lucy Fortson·Stefan Funk·Amy Furniss·Alasdair Gent·Stefano Germani·Nicola Giglietto·Francesco Giordano·William Hanlon·Sam Heiman·Olivier Hervet·Maria Ionica·Weidong Jin·David Kieda·Francesco Licciulli·Pierpaolo Loizzo·Serena Loporchio·Giovanni Marsella·Reshmi Mukherjee·Nepomuk Otte·Francesca Romana Pantaleo·Riccardo Paoletti·Deivid Ribeiro·Luca Riitano·Emmet Roache·Duncan Ross·Lab Saha·Heiko Salzmann·Benjamin Schwab·Ruo-Yu Shang·Gianluigi Silvestre·Leonardo Stiaccini·Hiroyasu Tajima·Svanik Tandon·Giovanni Tripodo·Justin Vandenbroucke·Vladimir V. Vassiliev·Richard White·David A. Williams·Adrian Zink
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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.

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Giovanni Ambrosi, Carla Aramo, Mattia Barbanera, Chiara Bartolini, Wystan Benbow, Bruna Bertucci, Elisabetta Bissaldi, Massimiliano Bitossi, James H. Buckley, Massimo Capasso, Mirco Caprai, Davide Cerasole, Zachary Curtis-Ginsberg, Gaia De Palma, Leonardo Di Venere, Miguel Escobar Godoy, Qi Feng, Emanuele Fiandrini, Lucy Fortson, Stefan Funk, Amy Furniss, Alasdair Gent, Stefano Germani, Nicola Giglietto, Francesco Giordano, William Hanlon, Sam Heiman, Olivier Hervet, Maria Ionica, Weidong Jin, David Kieda, Francesco Licciulli, Pierpaolo Loizzo, Serena Loporchio, Giovanni Marsella, Reshmi Mukherjee, Nepomuk Otte, Francesca Romana Pantaleo, Riccardo Paoletti, Deivid Ribeiro, Luca Riitano, Emmet Roache, Duncan Ross, Lab Saha, Heiko Salzmann, Benjamin Schwab, Ruo-Yu Shang, Gianluigi Silvestre, Leonardo Stiaccini, Hiroyasu Tajima, Svanik Tandon, Giovanni Tripodo, Justin Vandenbroucke, Vladimir V. Vassiliev, Richard White, David A. Williams, Adrian Zink. 2025-12-14. Design and Performance of the Upgraded Prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope Camera Module. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.jatis.12.3.034001

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