PA-PRO-2011-004

DIRC Cherenkov detectors will be the main devices for pi/K separation at the PANDA experiment at
FAIR. Due to their advantageous properties in terms of time resolution and especially inside magnetic
fields micro-channel plate photo multipliers (MCP-PMTs) are very attractive sensor candidates. In this
paper we present the investigation of several types of multi-anode MCP-PMTs. The darkcount rate, the
behavior inside a magnetic field of up to 2 T, the time resolution, the gain homogeneity and crosstalk of
multi-pixel MCP-PMTs were found to be well suitable for the PANDA requirements. Even the rate
capability of the latest models from Burle-Photonis and Hamamatsu is satisfactory. Although a big step
forward was accomplished with these recently available MCP-PMTs, the lifetime is still not sufficient for
the photon densities expected for the PANDA DIRCs.