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.
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.
The Schwarzschild Couder Medium Size Telescope prototype (pSCT) is going to test the Schwarzschild Couder solution proposed for Medium Size telescopes for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. The camera ...consists of 177 photodetection modules grouped into sectors of maximum 25 modules each. The sensitive elements of the modules, located in the focal plane of the telescope, are matrices of 64 6 mm × 6 mm pixels of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). The front-end electronics is designed for signal sampling technique using the TARGET-7 ASIC. The prototype under construction and test at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory site will be equipped with the inner central sector fully operational. Sensors from Fondazione Bruno Kessler will be used for 9 of the 25 modules. A complete characterization of these very recent, highly sensitive Near UV sensors, the assembly procedure and metrology results on several focal plane elements has been conducted. Performances of the 16-sensors matrices and measurements with the TARGET-7 ASIC front-end coupled to FBK sensors will be shown and deeply discussed.
•A camera for the prototype Schwarzschild Couder Telescope for CTA is being tested.•A 16-FBK SiPM matrix was studied and its homogeneity was verified.•The TARGET 7 readout module was coupled and optimized to the FBK SiPMs.
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.
Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) are excellent devices to detect the faint and short Cherenkov light emitted in high energy atmospheric showers, and therefore suitable for use in imaging air ...Cherenkov Telescopes. The high density Near Ultraviolet Violet SiPMs (NUV-HD3) produced by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) in collaboration with INFN were used to equip optical modules for a possible upgrade of the Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope camera prototype, in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array project. SiPMs are 6×6 mm
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devices based on 40×40 μm
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microcells optimized for photo-detection at the NUV wavelengths. More than 40 optical modules, each composed by a 4×4 array of SiPMs, were assembled. In this contribution we report on the development and on the assembly of the optical modules, their validation and integration in the camera.
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