The MINOS calibration detector

This paper describes the MINOS calibration detector (CalDet) and the procedure used to calibrate it. The CalDet, a scaled-down but functionally equivalent model of the MINOS Far and Near detectors, was exposed to test beams in the CERN PS East Area during 2001–2003 to establish the response of the MINOS calorimeters to hadrons, electrons and muons in the range 0.2–10 GeV/c. The CalDet measurements are used to fix the energy scale and constrain Monte Carlo simulations of MINOS.