First results of scintillator readout with silicon photomultiplier

Abstract

Abstract-A new type of silicon device has been realized that has many properties comparable to, or better than, a conventional PMT (Photomultiplier Tube). This paper presents the first results of using these photodetectors in place of a PMT in the readout of scintillators for possible PET (Positron Emission Tomography) applications. This device, the Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM), is effectively an avalanche photodiode operated in Geiger mode. In Geiger-mode detectors, a very large current signal is produced regardless of the size of the input, giving just logical rather than proportional information. However, the SiPM is subdivided into a large number (1440) of microcells that act as independent and virtually identical Geiger-mode photodiodes. The outputs of all these individual microcells are connected so that the total output signal is the sum of the signals from all of the microcells that were activated. In this way proportional information can be obtained. As a consequence of their design, these detectors have potentially very fast timing, high gain (10 5 10 6 ) at low bias voltage ( 50 V), a high quantum efficiency (35% at 500 nm), excellent single photoelectron resolution and are cheap to manufacture. Here we present results obtained with this new photodetector when used with pulsed LED and scintillator pixels.

Pulse shape discrimination performance of stilbene coupled to low-noise silicon photomultipliers

“…SiPMs are composed of numerous Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (APDs), referred to as microcells [1]. In particular, the SiPMs used in this work are each composed of 18,980 35-μm microcells [24,25].…”

“…Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are solid-state light sensors with similar light-conversion and amplification capabilities to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) [1,2]. When coupled to a scintillating medium, these devices have been used in a variety of radiation detection and spectroscopy applications including dosimetry [3,4], medical imaging [5][6][7][8], high-energy physics [9][10][11], and homeland security [12][13][14].…”

Luminescence, energy transfer properties of Tb/Gd3+-coactivated oxyfluoride borogermanate scintillating glasses

“…Moreover, the green-emitting Tb 3 þ -activated oxyfluoride borogermanate scintillating glasses are also sensitized by Gd 3 þ ions to further enhance their light-yield. The strongest green-emitting Tb 3 þ -activated scintillating glasses show the most sensitivity to the naked eyes [13], and matches well with the commercial detectors such as silicon PMT and other CCD arrays, which will be of great potential in detecting high-energy rays with slow events [14]. Therefore, in this work the glass density, transmittance and luminescence properties of Tb 3 þ ; /Gd 3 þ -coactivated oxyfluoride borogermanate scintillating glasses were studied.…”

State-of-the-art of PET scanners for small animal and breast cancer imaging

“…Such a compact silicon detector is well disposed for being developed into a close-packed array so as to have a position-sensitive detection surface, and this justifies the wide interest and the great efforts dedicated to the SiPM development [35]. A new camera design based on SiPM has been proposed by the Department of Physics, University of Pisa.…”