Single electron response of the scintillator-light guide-photomultiplier detector

The time response of a scintillator-light guide-photomultiplier combination was measured with a time-constant of 3 ns. Single detected electrons were recognizable at the output of the photomultiplier. The distribution of the number of photoelectrons produced by one detected electron and the pulse-height distribution of the photomultiplier output pulses were analysed. Statistical noise computed from these distributions was compared with the noise produced by the dark current of the photomultiplier.