FACT—The first Cherenkov telescope using a G-APD camera for TeV gamma-ray astronomy

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 639; no. 1; pp. 58 - 61
• Main Authors: Anderhub, H., Backes, M., Biland, A., Boller, A., Braun, I., Bretz, T., Commichau, S., Commichau, V., Domke, M., Dorner, D., Gendotti, A., Grimm, O., von Gunten, H., Hildebrand, D., Horisberger, U., Köhne, J.-H., Krähenbühl, T., Kranich, D., Krumm, B., Lorenz, E., Lustermann, W., Mannheim, K., Neise, D., Pauss, F., Renker, D., Rhode, W., Rissi, M., Ribordy, M., Röser, U., Stark, L.S., Stucki, J.-P., Tibolla, O., Viertel, G., Vogler, P., Warda, K., Weitzel, Q.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 21.05.2011
• Subjects: Cherenkov telescope; Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (G-APD); Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy; Instrumentation; Instrumentation; Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy; Cherenkov telescope; Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (G-APD)
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2010.10.081

Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APD) bear the potential to significantly improve the sensitivity of Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT). We are currently building the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) by refurbishing an old IACT with a mirror area of 9.5 square meters and are constructing a new, fine-pixelized camera using novel G-APDs. The main goal is to evaluate the performance of a complete system by observing very high energy gamma-rays from the Crab Nebula. This is an important field test to check the feasibility of G-APD-based cameras to replace at some time the PMT-based cameras of planned future IACTs like AGIS and CTA. In this article, we present the basic design of such a camera as well as some important details.