Large Area Photomultiplier Tube

72705S03-I The next generation of nucleon-decay and neutrino experiments will require high sensitivity photo detectors with a total active area of at least 10,000 m2. Existing photomultiplier tubes would impose severe limitations on the size and sensitivity of these experiments, due to their cost and manufacturing leadtime. This project will develop a large area, low-cost photomultiplier tube for these next-generation experiments. Phase I will follow a systems approach to developing the photomultiplier tube. After the requirements of the photomultiplier tube are identified by high energy physicists, the major subsystems will be designed using the latest low-cost manufacturing techniques. Multiple designs will be studied and trade-offs between them will be analyzed to obtain the optimum design in Phase II. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: The large area photomultiplier tube should find applications in High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics experiments that require a large photodetector area.