Temperature-compensated silicon photomultiplier

Abstract

Silicon PhotoMultipliers (SiPM) have significant temperature dependence of important parameters such as gain, photon detection efficiency and optical crosstalk. Special temperature-controlled power supplies and off-line correction are typically used to mitigate this temperature dependence, though these methods are still not optimal for multichannel photodetectors exposed to significant temperature variations. We report on a design concept for a custom SiPM chip with an integrated thermo-compensation circuit that automatically adjusts an applied bias voltage thus maintaining a stable SiPM overvoltage value and gain over a wide range of temperatures. A prototype of the thermo-compensated SiPM chip was built using commercially available discrete components and tested in the temperature range from −30 to +30 °C. The measured temperature dependence of the thermo-compensated SiPM chip was reduced by factor 38 in comparison with the non-compensated device.