We present the development and characterisation of a novel photodetector configuration for water Cherenkov detectors, using wavelength shifting plates coupled to a 3-inch photomultiplier tube. Through Geant4 simulations, the detector geometry was analysed to identify an optimal WLS plate configuration for fast timing. These findings indicate that this configuration achieves an approximate 43.4% increase in photon collection relative to a stand-alone 3-inch photomultiplier tube. A scalable array of these wavelength-shifted units could serve as a cost-effective alternative to the large-area photomultiplier tubes. These results demonstrate the feasibility of wavelength shifted enhanced photodetectors for background hadronic rejection in future high-energy gamma-ray observatories.
Stewart et al. (Fri,) studied this question.