The University of Connecticut nuclear physics group has produced a design for a scintillating fiber hodoscope to be used in the GlueX tagging spectrometer. The design calls for the readout of individual fiber pulses using silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). These solid state devices are a relatively new technology and have different sensitivity to wavelength and operating conditions than do conventional photomultiplier tubes. Several SiPM devices have been obtained from industry and characterized in terms of their gain, timing, dark rate, and quantum efficiency. This report describes the methods used for these tests, the results obtained, and outlines the next steps to be taken in the prototyping of a fiber hodoscope with SiPM readout.
