THE LASER CALIBRATION MONITOR OF THE KARMEN SCINTILLATION CALORIMETER

The KARMEN (KArlsruhe Rutherford interMediate Energy Neutrino) experim ent identifies and analyses nuclear reactions induced by ISIS beam-dum p neutrinos in a segmented liquid scintillation detector. A pulsed las er beam, distributed and transformed through a network of light guides and scintillation light splitters, is used to monitor calorimetric an d timing properties of the 512 central detector segments. This report describes the setup and applications of the laser calibration monitor at KARMEN. Data obtained with the laser system concern energy- and pos ition resolutions, the linearity and offset of energy measurements, th e correction of timing signals for energy-dependent walk effects, and the determination of absolute event times.