Readout of a scintillating-fiber array by avalanche photodiodes

We have evaluated the performance of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) as photosensors for scintillating-fiber tracking detectors, putting emphasis on their temperature dependence. For this purpose, a scintillating-fiber array has been built with 0.5 mm diameter fibers 55 cm long. The array is so structured that an incident particle traverses two fibers coupled to an APD. As temperature of the APD falls, the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio rises exponentially. It even reaches 90 at −30°C. The detection efficiency exceeds 98% when the temperature decreases until the S/N ratio becomes 30.