Extensive electrical model of large area silicon photomultipliers

Abstract In this paper the full electrical model of silicon photomultipliers fabricated at STMicroelectronics Catania R&D clean room facilities is presented. An accurate investigation on both SiPM single microcell and entire SiPM structure to extrapolate all the electrical elements has been executed by means of dedicated characterizations carried out on appropriate layout structure. The electrical simulations results are compared to the experimental data showing a good fit and therefore verifying the accuracy of the proposed model. This model can be used to describe all the SiPMs with different sizes manufactured using the same technology. Moreover, starting from this extensive electrical model, custom application software was developed in order to predict the possibility to profitably use the SiPM technology for different applications.

[1]  P. Lecoq,et al.  Time based readout of a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) for time of flight positron emission tomography (TOF-PET) , 2009, 2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC).

[2]  L. A. Filatov,et al.  Status report on silicon photomultiplier development and its applications , 2006 .

[3]  L. A. Filatov,et al.  Silicon photomultiplier and its possible applications , 2003 .

[4]  Zisis Papandreou,et al.  Comparison of a silicon photomultiplier to a traditional vacuum photomultiplier , 2005 .

[5]  Massimo Mazzillo,et al.  Timing Performances of Large Area Silicon Photomultipliers Fabricated at STMicroelectronics , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science.

[6]  L. Cosentino,et al.  Characterization of a Novel 100-Channel Silicon Photomultiplier—Part II: Charge and Time , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[7]  L. Cosentino,et al.  Silicon Photomultiplier Technology at STMicroelectronics , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science.

[8]  D. Renker.  Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes, history, properties and problems , 2006 .

[9]  Maurizio Boscardin,et al.  Modelling a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) as a signal source for optimum front-end design , 2007 .

[10]  L. Cosentino,et al.  Quantum Detection Efficiency in Geiger Mode Avalanche Photodiodes , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science.

[11]  Massimiliano Belluso,et al.  Single-photon avalanche photodiodes with integrated quenching resistor , 2008 .

[12]  L. Cosentino,et al.  Characterization of a Novel 100-Channel Silicon Photomultiplier—Part I: Noise , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[13]  Stefano Buono,et al.  Silicon photomultipliers and their bio-medical applications , 2007 .

[14]  R. Mirzoyan,et al.  The Potential of SiPM as Photon Detector in Astroparticle Physics Experiments like MAGIC and EUSO , 2006 .

[15]  A. Lacaita,et al.  Avalanche photodiodes and quenching circuits for single-photon detection. , 1996, Applied optics.

[16]  R. Mirzoyan,et al.  Large area silicon photomultipliers : Performance and applications , 2006 .