CMOS solid-state photomultipliers for high energy resolution calorimeters

Abstract

High-energy, gamma-ray calorimetry typically employs large scintillation crystals coupled to photomultiplier tubes. These calorimeters are segmented to the limits associated with the costs of the crystals, photomultiplier tubes, and support electronics. A cost-effective means for construction of a calorimeter system is to use solid-state photomultipliers (SSPM) with front-end electronics, which is at least half the cost, but the SSPM must provide the necessary energy resolution defined by the physics goals. One experiment with plans to exploit this advantage is an upgrade to the PRIMEX experiment at Jefferson Laboratories. We have developed a large-area SSPM (1 cm × 1 cm) for readout of large scintillation crystals. As PbWO4 has excellent properties (small Moliere radius and radiation hard) for high-energy gamma-rays (>1 GeV) but low light yields (~150 photons/MeV at 0 °C), evaluation of the SSPM and support readout electronics with LaBr3 provides a measure of the device performance. Using the known detection efficiency and dark current of the SSPM, an excess noise factor associated with after pulsing and cross talk is determined. The contribution to the energy resolution from the detector module is calculated as <1% for gamma rays greater than ~2.5 GeV (0.7% at 4.5 GeV).