Single photon detection with Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) products
Silicon Photomultipliers are arrays of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) operated in Geiger mode, designed for the detection of extremely weak light, down to the single photon. Depending on the light source and application, several hundred to thousands of SPADs are connected in parallel to form an SiPM. Each SPAD includes an integrated series resistor which quenches the avalanche and resets the diode for the next incoming photon.
The SiPM signal output is an electrical current proportional to the number of photons hitting the sensor. The main signal features are: very high gain (>1 x 10^6), very fast response and short recovery time.
Application fields are those requiring weak light detection and/or very good timing information. Typical examples are scintillator based detectors and time-of-flight systems. Examples are Medical, IVDx, Automotive LiDAR, Flow Cytometry, Safety & Security, Radiation Spectroscopy, and HEP experiments.
A general introduction to Silicon Photomultipliers can be found here.
Key benefits:
- High Photo Detection Efficiency (PDE)
- High dynamic range
- Low cross-talk
- Low dark count rate
- Short recovery time
Applications:
- X-ray and gamma-ray detection
- Automotive & Industrial LiDAR
- Direct time of flight (dToF)
- Biophotonics
- Nuclear medicine
- Positron emission tomography
- Safety and security
- Physics experiments
Application examples in the field of Life Sciences:
- Flow-Cytometry
- Fluorescence Detection
- Chemiluminescence Detection
- Microscopes
- Laser Scanning Microscopy
- Two-Photon-MIcroscopy
- Fluorescence Microscopy
- PCR Tests und DNA Melting Curve Analysis
- Fluorescence Glucose Biosensors
- Particle Detection
- Bacterial monitoring
Download Whitepaper:
AFBR-S4 SiPMs in life sciences: overcoming limitations of PMTs
Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) have been the detector of choice for detecting dim signals, for example fluorescence, in life science applications such as the following:
- Laser scanning/fluorescence/multiphoton microscopy
- Flow cytometry
- Fluorescence lifetime imaging
- Microplate readers
Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), solid-state-based singlephoton detectors, have overcome some of the key limitations imposed by PMTs in various life science applications.
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Further reading
Discover 3 reference links to external scientific sites:
- Timing advances of commercial divalent-ion co-doped LYSO:Ce and SiPMs in sub-100 ps time-of-flight positron emission tomography
- 16-channel SiPM high-frequency readout with time-over-threshold discrimination for ultrafast time-of-flight applications
- Characterization of external optical crosstalk reduction for SiPM-based scintillation detectors with an optical bandpass filter
Application notes
- AFBR-S4E001 NUV-MT SiPM Evaluation Kit NEW
- AFBR-S4NXX SiPM waveform and bandwidth consideration NEW
- AFBR-S4NxxPyy4M SiPM characteristics for PMT users NEW
- AFBR-S4NxxPyy4M: NUV-MT Soldering
- AFBR-S4NxxPyy4M: SiPM Dynamic Range, Linearity, and Saturation
- AFBR-S4NxxPyy4M: Single-Photon Measurements
- AFBR-S4NxxPyy4M: NUV-MT SiPM Performance Correlation
- AFBR-S4XX: Working with Broadcom SiPMs
- AFBR-S4XX: Brief Introduction to Silicon Photomultipliers
- AFBR-S4E001 Evaluation Kit for the AFBR-S4NxxC01y SiPM Family
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