Towards a full scale prototype of the CALICE Tile hadron calorimeter

Within the CALICE collaboration a prototype for an analogue hadron calorimeter is currently being realized. The prototype has to prove both the achievement of the aimed performance as a realistic detector as well as the feasibility of a high mechanical integration. A main aspect of the developed detector concept is the improvement of the jet energy resolution by measuring details of the shower development with a highly granular device and the combination with information from the tracking detectors. The detector is based on scintillator tiles with sizes of 3 × 3 cm² which are read out by silicon photomultipliers. Making full use of the high integration potential of the novel photo-sensor technology inside the calorimeter layers, the final detector modules for the prototype have been realized recently. In this report, the performance of the new modules is presented with a focus on tests of the readout ASICS SPIROC2b as well as first results from an integrated LED gain-calibration and monitoring system.