Development of a solid-state photomultiplier based on an array of Geiger mode CMOS avalanche photodiodes

We report the development of a photon-counting solid-state photomultiplier that consists of an array of Geiger mode CMOS avalanche photodiodes (APDs). The detector is based on the design described by Buzhan et. al.1 in which the individual outputs of an array of Geiger APDs are coupled together to drive a common output signal. The total output signal is a sum of the Geiger outputs of each individual pixel in the array. For a large array, the sum of the signals from the discrete pixels producess an analog representation of the flux on the detector. In this report we describe our most recent measurements of the spectral response and noise characteristics of the individual detector elements. We present results for a 14 element array of Geiger mode pixels that is used as a solid state photomultiplier (SSPM). We use this SSPM to create a prototype radiation detector that can identify the source based on the energy of the emitted radiation.

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