The characterisation of the multianode photomultiplier tubes for the RICH-1 upgrade project at COMPASS

A major upgrade of the Cherenkov photon detection system of COMPASS RICH-1 has been performed and it has been in operation since the 2006 physics run. The inner part of the photon detector has been replaced by a different technology in order to measure Cherenkov photons at high photoelectron rates, up to several times 10(6) per second and per channel. Cherenkov photons from 200 to 750nm are detected by 576 multianode photomultiplier tubes (MAPMTs) with 16 channels each, coupled to individual fused silica lens telescopes and fast, high sensitivity and high time resolution electronics read-out. To guarantee an optimal performance of the complete system, parameters like dark current, gain, uniformity, relative quantum efficiency have been measured for a totality of more than 600 MAPMTs (about 10 000 channels) in a fully automated test-stand, developed for this purpose. The ideal working point for each individual pixel could be ascertained by these measurements. In 2006 the newly equipped detector exhibited an excellent performance: about 56 detected photons per ring at saturation and a time resolution of better than 1 ns. We report about the MAPMT characterisation and the quality control set-up, protocol and results. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.