Simulation of a vacuum phototriode with SIMION 3D

An electron-optic model of a 26 mm diameter vacuum phototriode (VPT) photodetector was developed using SIMION 3D software extended by additional code to simulate secondary emission at the dynode. The predictions of the variation of gain with magnetic field for mesh anodes with 100, 40 and 7 lines per mm and fields from 0 and 4 T are presented. The predicted time development of the signal at 0 T is presented and compared with experimental data obtained by illuminating a production VPT for the electromagnetic endcap calorimeter of CMS with 60 ps laser pulses at a wavelength of 435 nm.