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We report on the electrical and optical characterization, in continuous wave regime, of a novel class of silicon photomultipliers fabricated in standard planar technology on a silicon p-type substrate. Responsivity measurements, performed with an incident optical power down to tenths of picowatts, at different reverse bias voltages and on a broad (340–820 nm) spectrum, will be shown and discussed. The device temperature was monitored, allowing us to give a physical interpretation of the measurements. The obtained results demonstrate that such novel silicon photomultipliers are suitable as sensitive power meters for low photon fluxes.

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are fabricated in two different configurations: p-on-n and n-on-p junctions. p-on-n SiPMs turn out to be more suitable for application in positron emission tomography (PET), due to their higher sensitivity in blue wavelength range where common PET scintillators have their emission spectrum. In this paper, we report on the electro-optical performances of the first p-on-n SiPMs manufactured at STMicroelectronics, Catania. The results obtained on these devices are compared with those measured on the standard n-on-p technology.

In this paper, we present the results of the first noise characterization performed on our novel 100-channel silicon photomultiplier. We have improved our previous single-photon avalanche photodiode technology in order to set up a working device with outstanding features in terms of single-photon resolving power up to R = 45, timing resolution down to 100 ps, and photon-detection efficiency of 14% at 420 nm. Tests were performed, and features were measured, as a function of the bias voltage and of the incident photon flux. A dedicated data-analysis procedure was developed that allows one to extract at once the relevant parameters and quantify the noise.

In this paper, we present the results of the charge and time characterization performed on our novel 100-channel silicon photomultiplier. We have improved our previous single-photon-avalanche-diode technology in order to set up a working device with outstanding features in terms of single-photon resolving power up to R = 45, a timing resolution down to 100 ps, and photon-detection efficiency of 14% at 420 nm. Tests were performed, and features were measured as a function of the bias voltage and of the incident photon flux. A dedicated data analysis procedure was developed that allows to extract at once the relevant parameters from the amplitude spectra and to determine the timing features.

Design and fabrication of single photon avalanche detector (SPAD) in planar technology is reported. Device design and critical issues in the technology are discussed. Experimental test procedures are described for dark-counting rate, afterpulsing probability, photon timing resolution, and quantum detection efficiency. Low-noise detectors are obtained, with dark counting rates down to 10 c/s for devices with 10 /spl mu/m diameter, down to 1 kc/s for 50 /spl mu/m diameter. The technology is suitable for monolithic integration of SPAD detectors and associated circuits.