On the characterisation of SiPMs from pulse-height spectra

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2017.02.049
• Publication Date: 2017-02-17T12:45:58Z
• Authors: V. Chmill; E. Garutti; R. Klanner; M. Nitschke; J. Schwandt
• Keywords: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex); 03 medical and health sciences; Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; 0302 clinical medicine; 0103 physical sciences; FOS: Physical sciences; Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det); 01 natural sciences; High Energy Physics - Experiment

Methods are developed, which use the pulse-height spectra of SiPMs measured in the dark and illuminated by pulsed light, to determine the pulse shape, the dark-count rate, the gain, the average number of photons initiating a Geiger discharge, the probabilities for prompt cross-talk and after-pulses, as well as the electronics noise and the gain fluctuations between and in pixels. The entire pulse-height spectra, including the background regions in-between the peaks corresponding to different number of Geiger discharges, are described by single functions. As a demonstration, the model is used to characterise a KETEK SiPM with 4382 pixels of 15 ��m x 15 ��m area for voltages between 2.5 and 8 V above the breakdown voltage at 20��C. The results are compared to other methods of characterising SiPMs. Finally, examples are given, how the complete description of the pulse-eight spectra can be used to optimise the operating voltage of SiPMs, and a method for an in-situ calibration and monitoring of SiPMs, suited for large-scale applications, is proposed.<br/>18 pages 11 figures 2 appendices<br/>