Development of a compact scintillator hodoscope with wavelength-shifting fibre read-out

We report on the prototyping of a plastic scintillator hodoscope with wavelength-shifting fibre read-out by a multi-anode photomultiplier as part of the development of a detector for cosmic-ray muons to be carried aboard an aircraft. Light yield and light attenuation measurements on single- and double-clad wavelength-shifting fibres were performed. Low power, low-threshold, discriminators were designed. A prototype 16-channel hodoscope with two planes was built and tested with cosmic rays. After correcting for geometrical factors a global intrinsic efficiency of ε > 98 % was obtained in both planes. The overall performance of the hodoscope proved it to be well suited for the Adler experiment to measure the high-altitude muon flux.