Mass characterization of multi-pixel photon counters for the T2K 280 m near detector

Abstract A few thousands multi-pixel photon counters (MPPC) have been characterized for the T2K 280 m near detector (ND280). For this purpose a test facility has been developed enabling the characterization of 128 MPPC per day. A mean gain value of 5.4×10 5 at breakdown voltage ( V break )+1 V with a dispersion of 2.6% has been measured at 20 °C. It is shown that the accuracy of the test facility for the gain measurement is at the level of 0.76%. At 20 °C the dark noise rates (DNR) have been measured in a range from ∼400 up to ∼730 kHz at V break +1.6 V.