Silicon Photomultipliers and front-end electronics performance for Cherenkov Telescope Array camera development

In the last few years a number of efforts have been undertaken to develop new technology related to Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). These photosensors consist of an array of identical Avalanche Photodiodes operating in Geiger mode and connected in parallel to a single output. The Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) is involved in the R&D program Progetto Premiale Telescopi CHErenkov made in Italy (TECHE.it) to develop photosensors for a SiPM based camera that will be part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory. In this framework tests are ongoing on innovative devices suitable to detect Cherenkov light in the blue and near-UV wavelength region, the so-called Near Ultra-Violet Silicon Photomultipliers (NUV SiPMs). The tests on photosensors produced by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) are revealing promising performance: low operating voltage, capability to detect very low intensity light down to a single photon and high Photo Detection Efficiency (PDE) in the range 390-410 nm. In particular the developed device is a High Density NUV-SiPM (NUV-HD SiPM) based on a micro-cell of 30 μm×30 μm and 6 mm×6 mm area. Tests on this detector in single-cell configuration and in a matrix arrangement have been done. At the same time front-end electronics based on the waveform sampling technique optimized for the new NUV-HD SIPMs is under study and development.