Performance of NUV-HD Silicon Photomultiplier Technology

In this paper, we present the full characterization of a new high-density (HD) cell silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) technology for ultraviolet (UV) and blue light detection, named near UV HD SiPM. Thanks to an optimized border region around each cell, we were able to develop devices having a very high detection efficiency and, at the same time, a high dynamic range. We produced SiPMs with a square cell pitch of 15, 20, 25, and 30 mu m featuring a peak efficiency in the violet region ranging from 40% to 55%, according to the cell size. We tested this technology for time-of-flight positron emission tomography. Using two 4x4 mm(2) SiPMs with a 25 x 25 mu m(2) cell pitch coupled to 3 x 3 x 5 mm(3) LYSO scintillators, we reached for the first time 100-ps full-width at half-maximum coincidence time resolution. This result was independent of the temperature in a range from 20 degrees C to -20 degrees C. At the same time, thanks to the high dynamic range and low correlated noise, we obtained an energy resolution lower than 9% for 511-keV gamma-rays.