Electro-optical characterization of SiPM: A comparative study

This work reports on the development of an electro-optical set-up for the characterization of the Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM) devices as well as on the comparative study of the characteristics of different SiPM prototypes. The electrical set-up allows the measurement of the static (breakdown voltage, overvoltage quenching resistance) and dynamic (gain, dark count rate) characteristics. The optical set-up allows the estimation of the photon detection efficiency as a function of the wavelength and the operation voltage. The comparative study has been performed on SiPM devices covering an area of 1×1 mm2 and supplied during 2007 by Photonique S.A. (Switzerland), FBK-irst (Italy), SensL (Ireland) and Hamamatsu (Japan).