  Multi-Pixel Photon Counter (MPPC) has been recently emerged and realized as a
great type of Silicon Photomultiplier to replace or compensate for the
conventional vacuum-based Photomultiplier tubes. MPPC provides many striking
features such as high electrical gain, outstanding photon detection efficiency,
fast timing response, immunity to the magnetic field, low-voltage operation,
compactness, portability, and cost-effectiveness. The report introduces and
examines the electrical and optical characteristics of the MPPC under loosely
controlled environmental conditions. Also, we report a measurement of the light
yield captured by the MPPC when the cosmic ray passes through the plastic
scintillator, demonstrating that such setup is suitable to build a simple,
cost-effective tabletop cosmic-ray detector for educational and research
purposes.
