ABSTRACT
Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have emerged as the solid-state alternative to the vacuum tube that is known as the photomultiplier tube (PMT) in a number of scintillation detection applications ranging from medical imaging to radiation detection and isotope identification. The primary technical and commercial driver for the development of the SiPM has been medical imaging, specifically positron emission tomography (PET). In PET, there is a simultaneous requirement for higher-quality images and lower raw component sensor cost as compared to the PMT. The radiation detection market requires higher-performance sensors for better isotope identification, increased physical robustness for handheld and field operations, low operating voltage compared to the high voltage of the PMT, and reduced sensor cost for high-volume homeland security applications. A typical generic application example of an SiPM detecting the light emission from a scintillating crystal is shown in Figure 7.1. This figure shows the scintillation crystal that is coupled to an SiPM sensor, which is directly connected to a printed circuit board (PCB). The signal from the SiPM is typically processed via an amplifier and/or a shaper followed by data acquisition. The scintillation crystal is capable of converting the incident gamma rays to visible photons, and the SiPM sensor has the sensitivity to convert the visible photons to an electrical charge, which can be amplified, shaped, and read out by the electronics. The SiPM is typically mounted on a PCB, and due to its compact nature, it is possible to place the readout electronics on the same PCB. Simplified diagram of a detector and the readout block diagram for scintillation crystal readout. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315214337/6c2d6d81-974c-44b7-b243-b74e4b0fdfe3/content/fig7_1.tif"/>
