Silicon Photomultipliers Gain Research Articles

Silicon photomultiplier's gain stabilization by bias correction for compensation of the temperature fluctuations

Gain of the silicon photomultiplier is strongly dependent on the value of bias voltage and temperature. This paper proposes a method for gain stabilization just by compensation of temperature fluctuations by bias correction. It has been confirmed that this approach gives good results and the gain can be kept very stable.

Calibration and stability of a SiPM-based simultaneous PET/MR insert

On behalf of the HYPER Image project, a Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) based preclinical PET insert for a commercial human 3T MRI scanner was built. In this contribution we report on the stability of imaging performance of the PET scanner and MR hardness and compatibility. From data sets that were acquired during the last 7 months we extracted SiPM gain values and their annual drift, the mean energy resolution and the energy resolution drift, spatial resolution and spatial resolution drift, and photo peak position and their annual drift. Further, a point source and a hot rod phantom was imaged fully simultaneously with the MRI scanner and the PET scanner. No interference between either modality was observed.

Measurement of time resolution of thermoregulated SiPM for time of flight detectors

Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) are considered very promising in many application where high timing performances, low cost, hardness to radiation damage and single photon counting are requested. Such applications go from astrophysics, high energy accelerator physics to medical physics. A group of SiPM from Hamamatsu has been tested with a low noise fast amplifier based on a hetero-junction FET, mounted on a proper front end board. A first telescope prototype has been used to test the electronics and results are shown. The SiPM time resolution has been measured to be σ∼30ps, in agreement with other studies reported in literature. The SiPM gain depends critically on temperature and a thermoelectric module to control the circuit was also studied in order to use the system for space detectors.

Study of silicon photomultipliers fast amplifier and thermoregulation

The silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) are adopted in various physical applications, from medical physics to astrophysics, for their advantages in terms of cost and weight with respect to traditional photo detectors. Their low bias voltage supply (about 30 V), hardiness and resistance to magnetic field are ideal characteristics for space application. In the frame of INFN-Irst collaboration, some of them have been developed and produced at FBK (Trento-Italy), and have been characterized in the INFN laboratories of Bologna (DaSiPM2 collaboration). The SiPM can be used in conjunction with fibres and counters in high energy physics experiments. To exploit the SiPM time resolution, a fast amplifier has been studied. The SiPM gain depends critically on temperature and a thermal stabilization is also necessary. The use of a thermoelectric cooler module based on a Peltier cell has been investigated, and the results are shown.

Thermoregulation of silicon photomultipliers for space

The silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) has been recently studied in the INFN laboratories of Bologna for Time of Flight (TOF) detectors in space missions. Low consumption, low cost, low weight, resistance to radiation damage and insensitivity to magnetic fields are the advantages that lead to the choice of the SiPM to be used in conjunction with optical fibres for detecting the scintillation light of a space counter. The SiPM response to various light intensities has been studied in laboratory and it was compared to the PM response in order to use it for scintillation light instead of a photomultiplier. The results were confirmed by a Monte Carlo. Nevertheless the SiPM gain depends on temperature and thermal stabilization of the device turns out to be necessary. A hybrid front-end circuit that amplifies the signal while controlling and stabilizing the device temperature has been developed and some tests are shown. A thermal electric cooler (TEC) module based on Peltier cell has been modeled. The TEC module operating in atmosphere showed it can stabilize the temperature of the SiPM to the chosen set-point (9±3 K) in a few seconds.

Development of a Fast-Neutron Detector With Silicon Photomultiplier Readout

A robust neutron detector was developed to monitor the neutron flux in fast-neutron/gamma radiography (FNGR) cargo scanners. The main features of the new neutron detector were an ability to handle high count rate for statistical precision and a high damage threshold for longevity when used close to intense fast neutron sources (up to 1010 n/s). The detector comprises a fast scintillator coupled to a shielded 100 pixel Hamamatsu 1 mm times 1 mm silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) via a 220 cm length of wavelength shifting (WLS) plastic fibre. The WLS fibre was glued onto two long sides of a 10 times 10 times 50 mm scintillator wrapped in Tyvek reflector. Scintillation pulses of up to ~40 photons reached the SiPM. With the detector mounted 60 mm from a Thermo A-325 DT neutron generator (up to 6 times 107 n/s) the count rate was over 4 times 104 counts per second. The SiPM gain was effectively stabilised against temperature variations by automatically trimming the bias voltage with SiPM temperature. Comparison data is provided for a photodiode-scintillator neutron detector placed 134 cm from the A-325 neutron generator and for a PMT-WLS-scintillator neutron detector.

Scintillator tile hadron calorimeter with novel SiPM readout

The CALICE collaboration is presently constructing a test hadron calorimeter (HCAL) with 7620 scintillator tiles readout by novel photo-detectors—Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). This prototype is the first device which uses SiPMs on a large scale. We present the design of the HCAL and report on measured properties of more than 10 000 SiPMs. We discuss the SiPM efficiency, gain, cross-talk, and noise rate dependence on bias voltage and temperature, including the spread in these parameters. We analyze the reasons for SiPM rejection and present the results of the long-term stability studies. The first measurements of the SiPM radiation hardness are presented. We compare properties of SiPM with the properties of similar devices, MRS APD and MPPC. A possibility to make the tiles thinner and to read them out without WLS fibers has been studied.