Speaker
Description
Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs), an array of Single Photon Avalanche photodiodes (SPADs) connected in parallel, are a promising technology for space missions for their high gain, compactness, low bias operating range, insensitivity to magnetic fields and low cost. It is of general interest to study the effect of radiation damage on a SiPM. Here, we report the effect of the irradiation with protons with four fluence levels up to $1\times 10^{11} p/cm^2$ on SPADs and SiPMs NUV-HD-lowCT with poly in trench technology, developed by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), with different cell pitch (40µm and 15µm). Protons induce mainly damage in the bulk of the detector through point or cluster defects, enhancing the primary dark count rate (DCR) and this can be observed in an increase of the dark current. Functional tests on the irradiated samples (SPADs and SiPM) confirmed primary DCR increment and excluded significant variation in breakdown voltage. These results are in agreement with the evaluation of the effects of Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Energy Loss (NIEL and IEL) damage on SiPMs reported in literature for space application. These results provide insights for the design of future solutions aimed at mitigating SiPMs and SPADs performance degradation.
