The Comprehensive and Systematic Evaluation of the Performance of the High Rate Picosecond Photon Detector

We report on the comprehensive characterization of a newly redesigned High-Rate Picosecond Photodetector (HRPPD) developed by Incom Inc. The HRPPD tested at UTA employs a capacitively coupled read out in contrast to the DC-coupled HRPPD developed for potential use in Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detectors at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The device's performance was systematically evaluated, including its single photoelectron response, gain homogeneity, timing resolution, quantum efficiency, and high-rate capabilities. This work focuses specifically on the analysis of after-pulsing as a function of the transport fields and Microchannel Plate (MCP) gains by employing HRPPD's unique ability for independent biasing of each one of the two MCPs. Our tests aim to find the optimal bias settings that can lead to lower after-pulse rate without sacrificing detector performance. This would allow for enhancing the operational lifetime of the photodetector, which we plan to investigate further in aging studies at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) as a function of various bias configuration.