Characterization of large area photomultiplier ETL 9357FLB for liquid argon detector

The China Dark Matter Experiment (CDEX) Collaboration will carry out a direct search for weakly interacting massive particles with germanium detectors. Liquid argon will be utilized as an anti-Compton and cooling material for the germanium detectors. A low-background and large-area photomultiplier tube (PMT) immersed in liquid argon will be used to read out the light signal from the argon. In this paper we carry out a careful evaluation on the performance of the PMT operating at both room and cryogenic temperatures. Based on the single photoelectron response model, the absolute gain and resolution of the PMT were measured. This has laid a foundation for PMT selection, calibration and signal analysis in the forthcoming CDEX experiments.