Silicon photomultiplier arrays – a novel photon detector for a high resolution tracker produced at FBK-irst, Italy.

A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array has been developed at FBK-irst [Piemonte C., Nucl. Instrum. Methods A, 568 (2006) 224; Piemonte C. et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 54 (2007) 236] having 32 channels and a dimension of 8.0×1.1mm2. Each 250 μm wide channel is subdivided into 5×22 rectangularly arranged pixels. These sensors are developed to read out a modular high resolution scintillating fiber tracker. Key properties like breakdown voltage, gain and photon detection efficiency (PDE) are found to be homogeneous over all 32 channels of an SiPM array. This could make scintillating fiber trackers with SiPM array readout a promising alternative to available tracker technologies, if noise properties and the PDE are improved.