Correction method for the readout saturation of the DAMPE calorimeter

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a space-borne high energy cosmic-ray and-ray detector whichoperates smoothly since the launch on December 17, 2015. The bismuth germanium oxide (BGO) calorimeteris one of the key sub-detectors of DAMPE used for energy measurement and electron–proton identification. Forevents with total energy deposit higher than decades of TeV, the readouts of PMTs coupled on the BGO crystalswould become saturated, which results in an underestimation of the energy measurement. Based on detailedsimulations, we develop a correction method for the saturation effect according to the shower developmenttopologies and energies measured by neighbouring BGO crystals. The verification with simulated and on-orbitevents shows that this method can well reconstruct the energy deposit in the saturated BGO crystal.