A support note for the use of pixel hybrid photon detectors in the RICH counters of LHCb

This document is a proposal for the use of a hybrid photon detector with integrated silicon pixel readout in the ring imaging Cherenkov detectors of the LHCb experiment. The photon detector is based on a cross-focussed image intensifier tube geometry where the image is de-magnified by a factor of 5. The anode consists of a silicon pixel array, bump-bonded to a binary readout chip with matching pixel electronics. The document starts with the general specification of the baseline option, followed by a summary of the main results achieved so far during the R&D phase. A future R&D programme and its related time table is also presented. The document concludes with the description of a photon detector production scheme and time schedule.