Development of the first prototypes of Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM) at ITC-irst

In the frame of INFN-ITC-irst collaboration new Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM) prototypes have been produced at ITC-irst (Trento, Italy). Each SiPM covers an area of 1 mm(2) and brings together 625 micro-cells of 40 x 40 um(2) size connected in parallel as to form a single read-out element. Each micro-cell consists of a Geiger Mode Avalanche Photodiode (GM-APD) in series with its quenching resistance. This article reports the main characteristics of these prototypes as well as the ongoing activity of our collaboration on the development of SiPM devices for medical and space physics applications. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.