Radiation Damage of the CERN CMS HCAL Scintillator/WLS fiber readout during Run1 and Run2 of the LHC

We present the results of a study of radiation damage of the CERN CMS HCAL Scintillator/WLS Fiber readout. Data were obtained using the Laser calibration system of the CMS hadron endcap detector during the operation of the LHC in 2010-2017. Scintillators used in the CMS hadron endcap calorimeter (HE) were irradiated at dose rates in the range of 0.1 rad/h to 0.1 krad/h. Results indicate that the radiation damage has a strong dose rate dependence. Using data collected in 2017, we have measured the response loss in a single HE section instrumented with Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). The results show a much smaller signal loss for the channels read out by SiPMs compared to signal loss for the channels read out by hybrid photodetectors (HPDs). The results imply that a large fraction of the response loss in the CMS HE detector observed in 2010-2017 comes from deterioration of the HPD photodetectors and not from radiation damage of scintillators.