Design, construction, characterization, and operation of a hybrid cosmic rays detector based on an electron gas

There are several sources that produce very energetic cosmic rays that interact with the Earth's atmosphere and create new particles. To detect them there are different methods such as the ionization of a material and Cerenkov radiation, among others. In this work a hybrid cosmic ray detector of 6 channels was designed, built, tested and operated. Being hybrid is possible to validate the signal with the two detection methods. Three Copper bars were used as detection material, each with an ionization and a Cerenkov radiation detection channel. To detect the Cerenkov radiation, Hamamatsu silicon photodiodes were used, and for the ionization channels an RC circuit was developed to measure the signal. The number of signals was counted using discriminator boards, which digitize the signal. With the counts the cosmic rays flux can be measured. The six channels were tested simultaneously. Data collections and analysis were performed. Details of the design, characterization, testing, operation, data analysis and preliminary results are presented.