Towards the development of a SiPM-based module for the camera of the Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope prototype of CTA

In recent years, Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) proved to be very performing devices for those applications where high sensitivity to low-intensity light and fast responses are required. The Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) is currently involved in the development of a prototype for a camera based on SiPMs for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a new generation of telescopes for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. Here we present the progress made during the last year in the development and testing of SiPMs suitable for Cherenkov light detection in the Near Ultraviolet (NUV SiPMs). The developed device is a High-Density (HD) NUV SiPM based on a micro cell of 30μm×30μm and 6mm×6mm area produced by the Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK). We present the characterization of the NUV-HD SiPMs arranged in a matrix of 4×4 single units, which will be part of the focal plane of the mid-size Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope prototype (pSCT) for CTA. An update on recent tests on the front-end electronics will be given