Abstract
We give an analytic treatment of the time resolution and efficiency of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) and Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). We provide closed-form expressions for structures with uniform electric fields and efficient numerical prescriptions for arbitrary electric field configurations. We discuss the sensor performance for single photon detection and also for charged particle detection.
Highlights
Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) have been used for photon detection and photon counting since many decades
The growth of the diverging avalanche is quenched by the breakdown of the electric field, which leads to a digital type signal with an amplitude independent of the number of primary charges
We can conclude that the time resolution is well approximated by σ1 ≈ c0/γv∗, where the main dependence is given by the variation of γ with sensor thickness and electric field (Fig. 13a) while c0 ≈ 1−3 and v∗ is saturated at ≈ 0.1 μm/ps
Summary
Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) have been used for photon detection and photon counting since many decades These semiconductor devices contain a highly doped p-n junction of 0.5−2 μm thickness, the so called gain region, that is biased above the breakdown voltage. For photons with longer wavelengths and larger absorption length, the geometry of Fig. 1b with a so called ’conversion region’ will be more efficient This region consists of a depleted layer of silicon with thickness ranging from 10-100 μm that is adjacent to a gain region. Scope and outline In this report, we discuss the time resolution and efficiency of SPADs and SiPMs of the two types shown in Fig. 1 and evaluate their performance for the detection of photons as well as charged particles. We focus on devices based on silicon, our results are expected to cover the basic geometries for different types of semiconductors
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