In this paper, we present a novel analog silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) structure, characterized by the passive-quenching active-recharge operation of the microcells (PQAR). The structure is obtained by including a MOSFET transistor close to each microcell. The transistor is built without any changes to the standard SiPM micro-fabrication process and it does not significantly reduce the fill-factor of the device. We operated this detector in a periodic pulsed reset mode. The advantages of this approach include a reduction of the effective dark count rate, strong suppression of the afterpulsing, very short pulse duration, lower fabrication cost. In this paper, we provide a description and the results of preliminary characterization of the first 1x1 mm2 prototype of the structure, with 50x50 μm2 cells, fabricated at FBK. The measured duration of the single-cell response is only 3.4 ns FWHM. Employing a pulsed light source, we were able to measure a very sharp pulse-charge spectrum, with good photon counting capability up to 40 detected photons and more, thanks to the absence of after pulses.
A Passive-Quenching Active-Recharge Analog Silicon Photomultiplier
Gola, Alberto Giacomo;Piemonte, Claudio;Acerbi, Fabio
2014-01-01
Abstract
In this paper, we present a novel analog silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) structure, characterized by the passive-quenching active-recharge operation of the microcells (PQAR). The structure is obtained by including a MOSFET transistor close to each microcell. The transistor is built without any changes to the standard SiPM micro-fabrication process and it does not significantly reduce the fill-factor of the device. We operated this detector in a periodic pulsed reset mode. The advantages of this approach include a reduction of the effective dark count rate, strong suppression of the afterpulsing, very short pulse duration, lower fabrication cost. In this paper, we provide a description and the results of preliminary characterization of the first 1x1 mm2 prototype of the structure, with 50x50 μm2 cells, fabricated at FBK. The measured duration of the single-cell response is only 3.4 ns FWHM. Employing a pulsed light source, we were able to measure a very sharp pulse-charge spectrum, with good photon counting capability up to 40 detected photons and more, thanks to the absence of after pulses.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
