Comprehensive modeling and characterization of Photon Detection Efficiency and Jitter in advanced SPAD devices

Author(s):  
Remi Helleboid ◽  
Denis Rideau ◽  
Isobel Nicholson ◽  
Norbert Moussy ◽  
Olivier Saxod ◽  
...  
Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Gola ◽  
Fabio Acerbi ◽  
Massimo Capasso ◽  
Marco Marcante ◽  
Alberto Mazzi ◽  
...  

Different applications require different customizations of silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) technology. We present a review on the latest SiPM technologies developed at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK, Trento), characterized by a peak detection efficiency in the near-UV and customized according to the needs of different applications. Original near-UV sensitive, high-density SiPMs (NUV-HD), optimized for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) application, feature peak photon detection efficiency (PDE) of 63% at 420 nm with a 35 um cell size and a dark count rate (DCR) of 100 kHz/mm2. Correlated noise probability is around 25% at a PDE of 50% at 420 nm. It provides a coincidence resolving time (CRT) of 100 ps FWHM (full width at half maximum) in the detection of 511 keV photons, when used for the readout of LYSO(Ce) scintillator (Cerium-doped lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate) and down to 75 ps FWHM with LSO(Ce:Ca) scintillator (Cerium and Calcium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate). Starting from this technology, we developed three variants, optimized according to different sets of specifications. NUV-HD–LowCT features a 60% reduction of direct crosstalk probability, for applications such as Cherenkov telescope array (CTA). NUV-HD–Cryo was optimized for cryogenic operation and for large photosensitive areas. The reference application, in this case, is the readout of liquid, noble-gases scintillators, such as liquid Argon. Measurements at 77 K showed a remarkably low value of the DCR of a few mHz/mm2. Finally, vacuum-UV (VUV)-HD features an increased sensitivity to VUV light, aiming at direct detection of photons below 200 nm. PDE in excess of 20% at 175 nm was measured in liquid Xenon. In the paper, we discuss the specifications on the SiPM related to different types of applications, the SiPM design challenges and process optimizations, and the results from the experimental characterization of the different, NUV-sensitive technologies developed at FBK.


Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 3763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko Sanzaro ◽  
Fabio Signorelli ◽  
Paolo Gattari ◽  
Alberto Tosi ◽  
Franco Zappa

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have improved significantly over the last years and now are widely employed in many different applications. However, the custom fabrication technologies exploited for commercial SiPMs do not allow the integration of any additional electronics, e.g., on-chip readout and analog (or digital) processing circuitry. In this paper, we present the design and characterization of two microelectronics-compatible SiPMs fabricated in a 0.16 µm–BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) technology, with 0.67 mm × 0.67 mm total area, 10 × 10 square pixels and 53% fill-factor (FF). The photon detection efficiency (PDE) surpasses 33% (FF included), with a dark-count rate (DCR) of 330 kcps. Although DCR density is worse than that of state-of-the-art SiPMs, the proposed fabrication technology enables the development of cost-effective systems-on-chip (SoC) based on SiPM detectors. Furthermore, correlated noise components, i.e., afterpulsing and optical crosstalk, and photon timing response are comparable to those of best-in-class commercial SiPMs.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aina Mardhiyah M. Ghazali ◽  
Audun Nystad Bugge ◽  
Sebastien Sauge ◽  
Vadim Makarov

We report an automated characterization of a single-photon detector based on commercial silicon avalanche photodiode (PerkinElmer C30902SH). The photodiode is characterized by I-V curves at different illumination levels (darkness, 10 pW and 10 µW), dark count rate and photon detection efficiency at different bias voltages. The automated characterization routine is implemented in C++ running on a Linux computer. ABSTRAK: Kami melaporkan pencirian pengesan foton tunggal secara automatik berdasarkan kepada diod foto runtuhan silikon (silicon avalanche photodiode) (PerkinElmer C30902SH) komersial. Pencirian  diod foto adalah berdasarkan kepada plot arus-voltan (I-V) pada tahap pencahayaan yang berbeza (kelam - tanpa cahaya, 10pW, dan 10µW), kadar bacaan latar belakang, kecekapan pengesanan foton pada voltan picuan yang berbeza. Pengaturcaraan C++ digunakan di dalam rutin pencirian automatik melalui komputer dengan sistem pengendalian LINUX.KEYWORDS: avalanche photodiode (APD); single photon detector; photon counting; experiment automation


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-551
Author(s):  
Mei-Ling Zeng ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Xiang-Liang Jin ◽  
Yan Peng ◽  
Jun Luo

Single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) can detect extremely weak optical signals and are mostly used in single-photon imaging, quantum communication, medical detection, and other fields. In this paper, a low dark count rate (DCR) single-photon avalanche diode device is designed based on the 180 nm standard BCD process. The device has a good response in the 450~750 nm spectral range. The active area of the device adopts a P+/N-Well structure with a diameter of 20 µm. The low-doped N-Well increases the thickness of the depletion region and can effectively improve the detection sensitivity; the P-Well acts as a guard ring to prevent premature breakdown of the PN junction edge; the isolation effect of the deep N-Well reduces the noise coupling of the substrate. Use the TCAD simulation tool to verify the SPAD’s basic principles. The experimental test results show that the avalanche breakdown voltage of the device is 11.7 V. The dark count rate is only 123 Hz when the over-bias voltage is 1 V, and the peak photon detection efficiency (PDE) reaches 37.5% at the wavelength of 500 nm under the 0.5 V over-bias voltage. PDE exceeds 30% in the range of 460~640 nm spectral range, which has a good response in the blue band. The SPAD device provides certain design ideas for the research of fluorescence detectors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (17) ◽  
pp. 1750193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wang ◽  
Xiaoyuan Bao ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
Ting Chen ◽  
Guanyu Wang ◽  
...  

This paper proposed a single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) designed with 0.18 [Formula: see text] standard CMOS process. One of the major challenges in CMOS SPADs is how to raise the low photon detection efficiency (PDE). In this paper, the device structure and process parameters of the CMOS SPAD are optimized so as to improve PDE properties which have been investigated in detail. The CMOS SPADs are designed in p+/n-well/deep n-well (DNW) structure with the p-sub and the p-well guard ring (GR). The simulation results show that with the p-well GR, the quantum efficiency (QE) is about 80% with the breakdown voltage of 12.7 V, the unit responsivity is as high as 0.38 A/W and the PDE of 51% and 53% is obtained when the excess bias is at 1 V and 2 V, respectively. The dark count rate (DCR) is 6.2 kHz when bias voltage is 14 V. With the p-sub GR, the breakdown voltage is 13 V, the unit responsivity is up to 0.26 A/W, the QE is 58%, the PDE is 33% and 37% at excess bias of 1 V and 2 V, respectively. The DCR is 3.4 kHz at reverse bias voltage of 14 V.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 1471-1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola D'Ascenzo ◽  
Emanuele Antonecchia ◽  
Andreas Brensing ◽  
Werner Brockherde ◽  
Stefan Dreiner ◽  
...  

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