Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) are semiconductor photosensors employed in a wide spectrum of scientific, medical and industrial applications when fast time response and faint light sensitivity in ...the infrared-ultraviolet range are required. With respect to the well-established technology of photomultiplier tube sensors, SiPMs feature improved spectral sensitivity, robust and customizable mechanical properties and higher resilience and flexibility for operation in harsh environments. These properties make SiPMs an enabling candidate technology to replace photomultiplier tubes and improve the performances of the instrumentation in the field of astrophysics. Many of next generation instruments for imaging cameras of ground-based telescope arrays and for spaceborne detectors for the inspection of the high energy sky are in fact considering SiPMs as the default photodetection technology both for direct and indirect photon detection. We review the most recent advances in the development of SiPM-based instruments for applications that are of interest for the frontier research in astrophysics from ground-based and spaceborne detectors.
Context . Observations of meteors in the Earth’s atmosphere offer a unique tool for determining the flux of meteoroids that are too small to be detected by direct telescopic observations. Although ...these objects are routinely observed from ground-based facilities, such as meteor and fireball networks, space-based instruments come with notable advantages and have the potential to achieve a broad and uniform exposure. Aims . In this paper, we describe the first observations of meteor events with Mini-EUSO, a very wide field-of-view telescope launched in August 2019 from the Baikonur cosmodrome and installed on board the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station. Mini-EUSO can map the night-time Earth in the near-UV range (290-130 nm) with a field of view equal to 44° × 44° and a spatial resolution of about 4.7 km at an altitude of 100 km from the ground. The detector saves triggered transient phenomena with a sampling frequency of 2.5 µs and 320 µs, as well as a continuous acquisition at 40.96 ms scale that is suitable for meteor observations. Methods . We designed two dedicated and complementary trigger methods, together with an analysis pipeline able to estimate the main physical parameters of the observed population of meteors, such as the duration, horizontal speed, azimuth, and absolute magnitude. To compute the absolute flux of meteors from Mini-EUSO observations, we implemented a simulation framework able to estimate the detection efficiency as a function of the meteor magnitude and the background illumination conditions. Results . The instrument detected 24 thousand meteors within the first 40 data-taking sessions from November 2019 to August 2021, for a total observation time of approximately 6 days with a limiting absolute magnitude of +6. Our estimation of the absolute flux density of meteoroids in the range of mass between 10 −5 kg to 10 −1 kg was found to be comparable to other results available in the literature. Conclusions . The results of this work prove the potential for space-based observations to increase the statistics of meteor observations achievable with instruments operating on the ground. The slope of the mass distribution of meteoroids sampled with Mini-EUSO suggests a mass index of either s = 2.09 ± 0.02 or s = 2.31 ± 0.03, according to two different methodologies for the computation of the pre-atmospheric mass starting from the luminosity of each event.
Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) are photodetectors optimized for the detection of infrared to ultraviolet photons and employed in a wide range of fast timing applications for medical imaging and ...particle detectors. SiPMs are used to detect the passage of ionizing radiation into matter via the collection of secondary photons emitted by the radiator material. In this work, we have investigated the possibility to detect high intensity X-ray fluxes using the DC current produced by SiPMs exposed directly to the X-ray beam, in absence of any passive converter material, to demonstrate the possibility to measure intense radiation fluxes without saturation of the SiPM response. In our application, the signal-to-noise ratio of the SiPM current during the direct exposition to X-rays is typically larger than 100, providing a robust indication of a positive detection. We show that, for a wide range of operational parameters and X-ray flux intensities, the SiPM current can be correlated to the X-ray beam intensity using a parametrization that describes the data with an accuracy of the order or better than 1%. We also show that the SiPM signal current to dark current ratio is maximum for hundreds of mV above the breakdown voltage, with a weak dependence on temperature. These results open the prospects for interesting applications for monitoring intense X-ray beams, for example beam spatial profiling, and possibly real time dosimetry both in medical and industrial applications.
In the last few years a number of efforts have been undertaken to develop new technology related to Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). These photosensors consist of an array of identical Avalanche ...Photodiodes operating in Geiger mode and connected in parallel to a single output. The Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) is involved in the R&D program Progetto Premiale Telescopi CHErenkov made in Italy (TECHE.it) to develop photosensors for a SiPM based camera that will be part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory. In this framework tests are ongoing on innovative devices suitable to detect Cherenkov light in the blue and near-UV wavelength region, the so-called Near Ultra-Violet Silicon Photomultipliers (NUV SiPMs). The tests on photosensors produced by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) are revealing promising performance: low operating voltage, capability to detect very low intensity light down to a single photon and high Photo Detection Efficiency (PDE) in the range 390–410nm. In particular the developed device is a High Density NUV-SiPM (NUV-HD SiPM) based on a micro-cell of 30μm×30μm and 6mm×6mm area. Tests on this detector in single-cell configuration and in a matrix arrangement have been done. At the same time front-end electronics based on the waveform sampling technique optimized for the new NUV-HD SIPMs is under study and development.
In standard applications Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) are usually used for the detection of photons in the infrared to near-ultra violet range or coupled to scintillators to detect higher energy ...photons or charged perticles. In this work we demonstrate that SiPMs can be used in current mode, measuring the SiPM DC current, to directly detect with high precision long and intense X-ray fluxes in the energy range ∼3÷15 keV . The response factor of the SiPM to X-rays has been determined and the intrinsic saturation current estimated. Furthermore the attenuation length of X-rays in air has been measured exposing the SiPM to a X-ray flux, confirming the validity of the methods. These results indicate that the SiPM device can in principle be calibrated to perform real time measurements in a high intensity X-ray flux environment and that the SiPM DC current is a potential dosimetric variable for online monitoring of X-ray fluxes.
The data presented in this article are related to the research paper entitled “Observation of night-time emissions of the Earth in the near UV range from the International Space Station with the ...Mini-EUSO detector” (Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 284, January 2023, 113336, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113336).
The data have been acquired with the Mini-EUSO detector, an UV telescope operating in the range 290-430 nm and located inside the International Space Station. The detector was launched in August 2019, and it has started operations from the nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module in October 2019. The data presented here refer to 32 sessions acquired between 2019-11-19 and 2021-05-06. The instrument consists of a Fresnel-lens optical system and a focal surface composed of 36 multi-anode photomultiplier tubes, each with 64 channels, for a total of 2304 channels with single photon counting sensitivity. The telescope, with a square field-of-view of 44°, has a spatial resolution on the Earth surface of 6.3 km and saves triggered transient phenomena with a temporal resolution of 2.5 µs and 320 µs. The telescope also operates in continuous acquisition at a 40.96 ms scale.
In this article, large-area night-time UV maps obtained processing the 40.96 ms data, taking averages over regions of some specific geographical areas (e.g., Europe, North America) and over the entire globe, are presented. Data are binned into 0.1° × 0.1° or 0.05° × 0.05° cells (depending on the scale of the map) over the Earth's surface. Raw data are made available in the form of tables (latitude, longitude, counts) and .kmz files (containing the .png images). These are – to the best of our knowledge – the highest sensitivity data in this wavelength range and can be of use to various disciplines.
Near UltraViolet High Density (NUV-HD) SiPMs produced by Fondazione Bruno Kessler in collaboration with INFN have been tested and characterized in INFN laboratories. The third generation of these ...devices (HD3) has proven to be suitable to equip the focal plane of the prototype Schwarzschild–Couder Medium Size Telescope (pSCT) proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory. Photosensors have been assembled in 4 16-pixel optical units coupled with TARGET–7 ASIC front-end electronics for amplification and digitization of the signal. At present, 9 modules have been successfully integrated on the pSCT camera and are currently taking data. In this contribution we report on the performances of the HD3 technology as single sensor and as assembled optical units, showing their performance and homogeneity in terms of gain and dark count rate.
Multimessenger astrophysics is based on the detection, with the highest possible accuracy, of the cosmic radiation. During the last 20 years, the advent space-borne magnetic spectrometers in space ...(AMS-01, Pamela, AMS-02), able to measure the charged cosmic radiation separating matter from antimatter, and to provide accurate measurement of the rarest components of Cosmic Rays (CRs) to the highest possible energies, have become possible, together with the ultra-precise measurement of ordinary CRs. These developments started the era of precision Cosmic Ray physics providing access to a rich program of high-energy astrophysics addressing fundamental questions like matter-antimatter asymmetry, indirect detection for Dark Matter and the detailed study of origin, acceleration and propagation of CRs and their interactions with the interstellar medium
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In this paper we address the above-mentioned scientific questions, in the context of a second generation, large acceptance, superconducting magnetic spectrometer proposed as mission in the context of the European Space Agency’s Voyage2050 long-term plan: the Antimatter Large Acceptance Detector In Orbit (ALADInO) would extend by about two orders of magnitude in energy and flux sensitivity the separation between charged particles/anti-particles, making it uniquely suited for addressing and potentially solving some of the most puzzling issues of modern cosmology.
The development of a new camera based on the use of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), which represents a new generation of ground based very high ...energy gamma ray observatory, is one of the main items of the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN). In the R&D framework a single channel electronic charge preamplifier has been developed to improve the performance of photon cameras equipped with High Density NUV – HD SiPM produced by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) with a micro cell of 30 μm x 30 μm and 6 mm x 6 mm total area. The single channel preamplifier will be used as basic component for a 16-channel electronic board prototype to test the 8 x 8 NUV – HD SiPM modules proposed to equip a pSCT (Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope prototype) camera. In this work the results of tests on the single channel preamplifier prototype to optimize the SiPM performances will be presented.
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