Afterpulse Prediction for the SUB-Millicharge ExperimenT (SUBMET)

Abstract The SUB-Millicharge ExperimenT (SUBMET) investigates an unexplored parameter space of millicharged particles with mass $m_\chi <$ 1.6 GeV/c$^2$ and charge $Q_\chi < 10^{-3}e$. The detector consists of an Eljen-200 plastic scintillator coupled to a Hamamatsu Photonics R7725 photomultiplier tube (PMT). PMT afterpulses, delayed pulses produced after an energetic pulse, have been observed in the SUBMET readout system, especially following primary pulses with a large area. We present a prediction method for afterpulse rates based on measurable parameters, which reproduces the observed rate with approximately 20% precision. This approach enables a better understanding of afterpulse contributions and, consequently, improves the reliability of background predictions.