Studies of visible light photon counters with fast preamplifiers

Scintillating fiber tracking detectors are being developed for the SDC experiment at Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) and the upgrade of the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The many attractive features of a fiber tracker include good position resolution, low occupancy, low mass in the active volume, and excellent resistance to radiation damage. An additional important feature, especially at the SSC, is the intrinsically prompt response time of a scintillating fiber. The photodetector of choice is the visible light phonon counter (VLPC), a device which combines high rate capability with high quantum efficiency at visible wavelengths. To realize the high rate capability of the VLPC requires the implementation of a suitable, fast preamplifier. Until recently, studies of fibers and VLPCs with radioactive sources and cosmic rays have been performed under low rate conditions using transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs). The authors report on the response characteristics of a fiber-VLPC system coupled to a variety of fast preamplifiers, including QPA02, VTX, and TVC devices. Their performance is compared with that of a transimpedance amplifier.<>