The Silicon Photomultiplier as a modern solid-state replacement of the vacuum photomultiplier tube

A simple, self-contained, thermo-electrically cooled SiPM system is presented which cools a SiPM array to -20ˆC. The array views a NaI scintillator through a 75 mm diameter glass window. Waste heat is removed with a large heat sink and AC fans. Above 40 keV in an air-coupled 2′′×2′′ NaI scintillator...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of instrumentation 2019-08, Vol.14 (8), p.T08003-T08003
Main Authors: Ponento, A., Martoff, C.J., Jones, D., Kaczanowicz, E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air cooling
Arrays
Cooling
Gamma rays
Heat sinks
Inspection
Liquid cooling
Performance degradation
Photomultiplier tubes
Scintillation counters
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Summary:A simple, self-contained, thermo-electrically cooled SiPM system is presented which cools a SiPM array to -20ˆC. The array views a NaI scintillator through a 75 mm diameter glass window. Waste heat is removed with a large heat sink and AC fans. Above 40 keV in an air-coupled 2′′×2′′ NaI scintillator, the SiPM dark count rate was reduced by a factor ∼1000 when cooled. Performance when cooled was very similar to a PMT tested in the same setup and adequate for nuclear spectroscopy above 25 keV. Originally, water cooling was used but it was replaced by air cooling which is more suitable for a self-contained system, giving the advantage of portability without degrading performance. Straightforward improvements would allow cooling the SiPM to -30ˆC or below, which would further reduce the dark count rate and extend the spectroscopically useful range to even lower energies. Such a system would be rugged and suitable for field use, for instance for inspection of cargo for gamma ray emissions.
ISSN:1748-0221
1748-0221
DOI:10.1088/1748-0221/14/08/T08003