Beam test of FARICH prototype with digital photon counter

In June 2012 we tested a Focusing Aerogel RICH detector prototype based on Digital Photon Counters (DPC) by Philips at the CERN PS T10 beam line with a particle momentum up to 6GeV/c. The prototype comprises a 20×20cm2 photon detector with 48×48 DPC pixels. In order to reduce the dark count rate, the photon detector was cooled to −40°C in addition to disabling individual DPC's microcells. A four layer focusing aerogel radiator with 200mm focal distance was studied. We obtained a Cherenkov angle resolution of 3.61±0.04mrad. The mean number of photoelectrons in a ring is 12. Directly measured π/K separation at 6GeV/c momentum is 3.5σ, μ/π separation is 5.3σ at 1GeV/c. A comparison with a Monte Carlo simulation is presented as well. •Focusing Aerogel RICH prototype with Digital Photon Counters by Philips was built.•The prototype was tested at the CERN PS T10 beam line.•We observed Cherenkov rings with 12 photoelectrons in average.•Timing resolution of DPCs is 48ps for single photons.•Cherenkov angle resolution is 3.64±0.04mrad per ring.