Modification of a Silicon Photomultiplier for Reduced High Temperature Dark Count Rate

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1886439· OSTI ID:1886439

Balajthy, Jon ^[1]; Burkart, James ^[1]; Christiansen, Joel ^[1]; Sweany, Melinda ^[1]; Udoni, Darlene ^[1]; Weber, Thomas ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

In this work we present a novel method for improving the high-temperature performance of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) via focused ion beam (FIB) modification of individual microcells. The literature suggests that most of the dark count rate (DCR) in a SiPM is contributed by a small percentage (<5%) of microcells. By using a FIB to electrically deactivate this relatively small number of microcells, we believe we can greatly reduce the overall DCR of the SiPM at the expense of a small reduction in overall photodetection efficiency, thereby improving its high temperature performance. In this report we describe our methods for characterizing the SiPM to determine which individual microcells contribute the most to the DCR, preparing the SiPM for FIB, and modifying the SiPM using the FIB to deactivate the identified microcells.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: NA0003525
• OSTI ID: 1886439
• Report Number(s): SAND2022-11932; 709637
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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