Abstract
Comparison of the timing performance of different silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) can be useful for applications that employ these devices. In our study, we characterize some of the currently available SiPMs to compare the single photon time resolution (SPTR) values measured using a 420 nm laser with a pulse width of 42 ps FWHM. SPTR values in the range of 175–330 ps FWHM were measured for most 3 × 3 mm2 and 4 × 4 mm2 devices and varied with the producer and the type of the SiPM. Factors influencing the SPTR including the area, cell to cell non-uniformity and the SPAD (single photon avalanche diode) jitter were investigated by the use of laser light focused at the level of a SPAD within a SiPM. The standard deviation of the SPTR values measured among different cells within a Hamamatsu Through Silicon Via SiPM was found to be less than 5 ps. When measured with focused laser the values of SPTR, the signal delay and the relative PDE were found to vary among different points within a SPAD of a SiPM. We found that such variation causes the values of SPTR measured with focused illumination to be better than when measured with diffuse illumination which probes the entire SiPM active surface. SPTR values close to 20 ps FWHM have been measured for standalone single SPADs produced by FBK after correcting for the laser jitter and the acquisition jitter. The performed tests helped us to understand the limits of the SPAD jitter. We infer that the dominant factor contributing to the degradation of the SPTR from the level of a SPAD to a SiPM is mostly driven by detector noise, if the influence of the signal delay time spread is reduced to a minimum.
Highlights
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135 ± 5 220 ± 6 175 ± 4 145 ± 5 247 ± 6 220 ± 6 200 ± 4 analyzing the single p.e spectra we determined a map of the relative photon detection efficiency (PDE) at various points with respect to the center of the SPAD. We found that both the relative PDE and the single photon time resolution (SPTR) vary within a SPAD at different locations; the best values being obtained at the center of the SPAD
SiPMs fabricated by various producers have different optimal values of SPTR falling in the range of 175 ps–330 ps full width at half maximum (FWHM)
Summary
This content has been downloaded from IOPscience. Please scroll down to see the full text. 2016 JINST 11 P10016 (http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-0221/11/10/P10016) View the table of contents for this issue, or go to the journal homepage for more. Pizzichemi et al Digital Signal Processing for SiPM Timing Resolution D E Philippov, E V Popova, V N Belyaev et al Timing optimization of a H-tree based digital silicon photomultiplier S Mandai and E Charbon Time of flight positron emission tomography towards 100ps resolution with L(Y)SO: an experimental and theoretical analysis S Gundacker, E Auffray, B Frisch et al A comprehensive characterization of the time resolution of the Philips Digital Photon Counter S.E. Brunner, L. We characterize some of the currently available SiPMs to compare the single photon time resolution (SPTR) values measured using a 420 nm laser with a pulse width of 42 ps FWHM. When measured with focused laser the values of SPTR, the signal delay and the relative PDE were found to vary among different points within a SPAD of a SiPM. We infer that the dominant factor contributing to the degradation of the SPTR from the level of a SPAD to a SiPM is mostly driven by detector noise, if the influence of the signal delay time spread is reduced to a minimum
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