Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Jiuxuan Zhao, Tommaso Milanese, Francesco Gramuglia, Pouyan Keshavarzian, Shyue Seng Tan, Michelle Tng, Louis Lim, Vinit Dhulla, Elgin Quek, Myung-Jae Lee, Edoardo Charbon
Summary: This study presents an analog silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) based on a 55-nm Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) technology, which can be used in light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems. The SiPM features small size and high gain, enabling accurate depth measurement and high-resolution intensity and depth imaging of complex scenes under ambient light conditions.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Frederic Vachon, Samuel Parent, Frederic Nolet, Henri Dautet, Jean-Francois Pratte, Serge A. Charlebois
Summary: The characterization of nuisance parameters in digital SiPMs using ZPP and TD methods enables the correct separation of correlated and uncorrelated events, allowing for the determination of true PDE.
MEASUREMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Hui-Chen Tsai, Chun-Hsien Liu, Sheng-Di Lin, Chia-Ming Tsai, Jau-Yang Wu
Summary: In this study, a wide radiation temperature measurement is demonstrated using a single-photon avalanche diode image array. The detection temperature window ranges from 280 degrees C to 1050 degrees C with a noise equivalent temperature difference below 1 degrees C. The thermal image obtained has a high detection rate and a spatial resolution of 80 μm.
IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Instruments & Instrumentation
P. Windischhofer, W. Riegler
Summary: This report investigates the dynamics of passive quenching in a single-photon avalanche diode, utilizing a microscopic description of the electron-hole avalanche and the equivalent circuit of the device. Analytic expressions for the resulting signal shape are derived for simple electric field configurations, and efficient numerical prescriptions are given for realistic device geometries. Space charge effects from the avalanche are included using simulations, which are shown to distort the signal shape but not alter its basic characteristics or the underlying quenching mechanism.
NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
A. Eshkoli, Y. Nemirovsky
Summary: The article discusses a new mixed design approach for monolithic CMOS-SiPM, focusing on sampling, filtering, and converting signals, as well as demonstrating the system's design, simulation, and measurement results. The system achieves high clock rate and resolution at low cost, with potential applications in various fields.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Ryan Scott, Wei Jiang, Xuanyu Qian, M. Jamal Deen
Summary: Time-gating is a method commonly used to reduce dark noise and obtain timing information in biomedical imaging applications. This study presents a multi-time-gated SPAD array that can simultaneously apply shifted gate windows to a group of SPADs, reducing the measurement time. Experimental results show that this design performs well in various performance metrics.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Nicolo Tuccori, Simon J. M. Peeters
Summary: Photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) has rapidly developed in the last decade and is expected to revolutionize X-ray imaging. This study focuses on evaluating SiPM-based scintillator detectors using a simulation framework that combines Monte Carlo simulations and a library to generate SiPM signals. The performance of six fast inorganic scintillators and different TiO2-epoxy mixtures is analyzed, and the count-rate capability and energy-binning efficiency are evaluated.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NUCLEAR SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Instruments & Instrumentation
Ayaka Matsushita, Sei Ban, Hicham Benmansour, Giovanni Dal Maso, Marco Francesconi, Luca Galli, Fumihito Ikeda, Toshiyuki Iwamoto, Satoru Kobayashi, Toshinori Mori, Donato Nicolo, Rina Onda, Wataru Ootani, Atsushi Oya, Shinji Ogawa, Angela Papa, Patrick Schwendimann, Yusuke Uchiyama, Bastiano Vitali, Kensuke Yamamoto, Taku Yonemoto, Keisuke Yoshida
Summary: The liquid xenon (LXe) gamma-ray detector in the MEG II experiment measures the energy, position, and timing of gamma-rays accurately, enabling the experiment to achieve unprecedented sensitivity. The photo sensors, consisting of 4092 VUV MPPCs and 668 PMTs, were successfully read out for the first time, and physics data collection began in 2021. The stability and performance of the LXe detector were continuously monitored during the beam time, and satisfactory timing and energy resolution were achieved using gamma-rays from pi 0 decays in a liquid hydrogen target. The detector has undergone successful commissioning and is now ready for a long physics run.
NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
K. Abe, K. Hiraide, N. Kato, S. Moriyama, M. Nakahata, K. Sato, H. Sekiya, T. Suzuki, Y. Suzuki, A. Takeda, B. S. Yang, N. Y. Kim, Y. D. Kim, Y. H. Kim, Y. Itow, K. Martens, A. Mason, M. Yamashita, K. Miuchi, Y. Takeuchi, K. B. Lee, M. K. Lee, Y. Fukuda, H. Ogawa, K. Ichimura, Y. Kishimoto, K. Nishijima, K. Fushimi, B. D. Xu, K. Kobayashi, S. Nakamura
Summary: This paper reports various searches for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter using the full data set of the XMASS-I detector. The study found limits on the WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section by analyzing the detector's fiducial volume. Additionally, a search for annual modulation signatures in the detector's whole target volume was conducted, and corresponding cross section limits were obtained.
Review
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Istvan Gyongy, Neale A. W. Dutton, Robert K. Henderson
Summary: This article provides a tutorial introduction to the direct Time-of-Flight (dToF) signal chain and discusses typical artifacts introduced due to limitations of the detector and processing electronic devices. It outlines the memory requirements of embedded histograms and highlights future prospects for integrated CMOS dToF arrays.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2022)
Article
Physics, Particles & Fields
G. Gallina, Y. Guan, F. Retiere, G. Cao, A. Bolotnikov, I. Kotov, S. Rescia, A. K. Soma, T. Tsang, L. Darroch, T. Brunner, J. Bolster, J. R. Cohen, T. Pinto Franco, W. C. Gillis, H. Peltz Smalley, S. Thibado, A. Pocar, A. Bhat, A. Jamil, D. C. Moore, G. Adhikari, S. Al Kharusi, E. Angelico, I. J. Arnquist, P. Arsenault, I. Badhrees, J. Bane, V. Belov, E. P. Bernard, T. Bhatta, P. A. Breur, J. P. Brodsky, E. Brown, E. Caden, L. Cao, C. Chambers, B. Chana, S. A. Charlebois, D. Chernyak, M. Chiu, B. Cleveland, R. Collister, M. Cvitan, J. Dalmasson, T. Daniels, K. Deslandes, R. DeVoe, M. L. di Vacri, Y. Ding, M. J. Dolinski, A. Dragone, J. Echevers, B. Eckert, M. Elbeltagi, L. Fabris, W. Fairbank, J. Farine, Y. S. Fu, D. Gallacher, P. Gautam, G. Giacomini, C. Gingras, D. Goeldi, R. Gornea, G. Gratta, C. A. Hardy, S. Hedges, M. Heffner, E. Hein, J. Holt, E. W. Hoppe, J. Hoessl, A. House, W. Hunt, A. Iverson, X. S. Jiang, A. Karelin, L. J. Kaufman, R. Kruecken, A. Kuchenkov, K. S. Kumar, A. Larson, K. G. Leach, B. G. Lenardo, D. S. Leonard, G. Lessard, G. Li, S. Li, Z. Li, C. Licciardi, R. Lindsay, R. MacLellan, M. Mahtab, S. Majidi, C. Malbrunot, P. Margetak, P. Martel-Dion, L. Martin, J. Masbou, N. Massacret, K. McMichael, B. Mong, K. Murray, J. Nattress, C. R. Natzke, X. E. Ngwadla, J. C. Nzobadila Ondze, A. Odian, J. L. Orrell, G. S. Ortega, C. T. Overman, S. Parent, A. Perna, A. Piepke, N. Pletskova, J. F. Pratte, V. Radeka, E. Raguzin, G. J. Ramonnye, T. Rao, H. Rasiwala, K. Raymond, B. M. Rebeiro, G. Richardson, J. Ringuette, V. Riot, T. Rossignol, P. C. Rowson, L. Rudolph, R. Saldanha, S. Sangiorgio, X. Shang, F. Spadoni, V. Stekhanov, X. L. Sun, A. Tidball, T. Totev, S. Triambak, R. H. M. Tsang, O. A. Tyuka, F. Vachon, M. Vidal, S. Viel, G. Visser, M. Wagenpfeil, M. Walent, K. Wamba, Q. Wang, W. Wang, Y. Wang, M. Watts, W. Wei, L. J. Wen, U. Wichoski, S. Wilde, M. Worcester, W. H. Wu, X. Wu, L. Xie, W. Yan, H. Yang, L. Yang, O. Zeldovich, J. Zhao, T. Ziegler
Summary: Liquid xenon time projection chambers are promising detectors for neutrinoless double beta decay, and the nEXO collaboration has designed a tonne-scale chamber with a projected half-life sensitivity of 1.35 x 10^28 yr. This paper reports on the characterization of vacuum ultra-violet sensitive SiPMs designed for nEXO, as well as measurements on new test samples of previously characterized MPPCs. The results are used to provide updated estimates of the achievable energy resolution for the nEXO design.
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL C
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Byungchoul Park, Hyun-Seung Choi, Jinwoong Jeong, Taewoo Kim, Myung-Jae Lee, Youngcheol Chae
Summary: This article presents a 400 x 200 single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) X-ray detector that supports seamless global shutter operation. The detector achieves a high dynamic range (DR) and low power consumption, and works effectively under both low and high X-ray dose conditions.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Thomas Schwemberger, Tien-Tien Yu
Summary: With the advancement of low-threshold dark matter detectors, the recoil from solar neutrinos can be detected, providing an opportunity to explore neutrino properties. We predict an enhanced event rate of solar neutrino scattering in low-threshold DM detectors beyond the Standard Model interactions, focusing on specific detectors. By considering various neutrino interactions, we place constraints on the mass and couplings of each mediator and the neutrino magnetic moment using both current detectors and future projections. Our findings show significant improvements in constraints for vector and scalar mediators using low-threshold detectors.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Mst Shamim Ara Shawkat, Md. Sakib Hasan, Nicole Mcfarlane
Summary: This article presents a novel comprehensive simulation model for perimeter gated single-photon avalanche diode-based silicon photomultipliers (PGSPAD SiPMs). The model accurately mimics the current-voltage transfer function and the avalanche-quench process of the SiPM detector, and has been verified by experimental measurements. Simulation results show very good agreement with experimental measurements.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NUCLEAR SCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Federica Villa, Fabio Severini, Francesca Madonini, Franco Zappa
Summary: LiDAR is a widely used 3D imaging technique with challenging requirements such as long ranges and high speeds, especially in outdoor applications with strong solar illumination. Recent advances in SPAD technology have improved the performance and processing capabilities of LiDAR detectors, allowing for smaller pitch and higher pixel count.
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Frederic Vachon, Samuel Parent, Frederic Nolet, Henri Dautet, Jean-Francois Pratte, Serge A. Charlebois
Summary: The characterization of nuisance parameters in digital SiPMs using ZPP and TD methods enables the correct separation of correlated and uncorrelated events, allowing for the determination of true PDE.
MEASUREMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Instruments & Instrumentation
Francis Loignon-Houle, Serge A. Charlebois, Rejean Fontaine, Roger Lecomte
Summary: This study investigates the spatial, temporal, and energy evolution of primary electrons generated by 511 keV photons in different scintillators using Monte Carlo simulations. The simulation results show that the electron track is tortuous with a short extent and rapid energy transfer in high-Z or high density materials, while it is longer and less tortuous in lighter materials. These simulations provide insights into the dynamics of energy transfer in different detector concepts.
NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
(2022)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Haithem Bouziri, Catherine M. Pepin, Konin Koua, Maher Benhouria, Caroline Paulin, Jinsong Ouyang, Marc Normandin, Jean-Francois Pratte, Georges El Fakhri, Roger Lecomte, Rejean Fontaine
Summary: A more robust crystal identification solution based on dual-threshold time-over-threshold (ToT) technique was proposed and tested in phoswich detectors with various scintillator combinations. The method demonstrated successful crystal identification with high accuracy in broad energy windows, showing potential for application in future detectors.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON RADIATION AND PLASMA MEDICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Nikta Zarif Yussefian, Emilie Gaudin, Roger Lecomte, Rejean Fontaine
Summary: This study investigates the method of improving lesion detectability in small animal PET by enhancing coincidence time resolution. The relationship between crystal length, TOF resolution, and CNR performance is derived through simulations, providing a predictive model with a mean-squared error of 0.69.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON RADIATION AND PLASMA MEDICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Mark Ferguson, Mohamed Najah, Frederic A. Banville, Mohamed Boucherit, Paul Gond-Charton, Jacques Renaud, Luc Frechette, Francois Boone, Serge Ecoffey, Serge A. Charlebois
Summary: This study explores the compatibility of Ru with Al-Ge eutectic wafer bonding. Experimental results show that Ru is stable and offers good melt wettability in the presence of Al and Ge. The melting temperature of Al-Ge eutectic is found to decrease slightly in the presence of Ru contamination within a specific range. Wafer-level packaged devices and MEMS with Ru contacts demonstrate strong bond outcomes. These findings suggest that Ru has high compatibility with Al-Ge eutectic bonding.
JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Mohamed Najah, Serge Ecoffey, Tejinder Singh, Mark Ferguson, Louis-Philippe Roby, Jacques Renaud, Paul Gondcharton, Frederic A. Banville, Mohamed Boucherit, Serge A. Charlebois, Luc G. Frechette, Raafat R. Mansour, Francois Boone
Summary: This paper discusses the integration and wafer-level packaging of an Au-Ru/AlCu contact in a MEMS fabrication process through Al-Ge eutectic bonding. The contact configuration shows good return loss and isolation, and withstands 3 million hot switching cycles. However, the contact fails due to an increase in electrical resistance caused by Au hillocking.
JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Electrochemistry
Mark Ferguson, Mohamed Najah, Frederic Banville, Mohamed Boucherit, Naresh Miriyala, Jacques Renaud, Luc Frechette, Francois Boone, Serge Ecoffey, Serge A. Charlebois
Summary: We investigated the re-entrant undercut profile resulting from Au wet etching and compared the effects of an aqua regia-based solution and a commercial iodine-iodide-based etchant. Our results show that the aqua regia solution effectively mitigates galvanic undercutting and we discuss the electrochemical origin of this mitigation.
JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Narjes Moghadam, Roger Lecomte, Rejean Fontaine
Summary: Carbon nanotube-based composites with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a matrix show promising properties in terms of electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interference shielding, effectively eliminating artifacts in PET/MRI scanners caused by low-frequency electromagnetic interferences.
MICROELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Simon Carrier, Michel Labrecque-Dias, Ramy Tannous, Pascal Gendron, Frederic Nolet, Nicolas Roy, Tommy Rossignol, Frederic Vachon, Samuel Parent, Thomas Jennewein, Serge Charlebois, Jean-Francois Pratte
Summary: We propose an integrated single-photon detection device designed specifically for time-bin encoded single photons in quantum key distribution (QKD). We have successfully implemented and demonstrated a prototype photon-to-digital converter (PDC) that combines an 8 x 8 single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array with on-chip digital signal processing in TSMC 65 nm CMOS. The PDC prototype achieves a timing resolution of 22.7 ps RMS and operates effectively in a time-bin setup at an optical wavelength of 410 nm. This PDC serves as a crucial component for QKD receivers and enables the development of compact and robust time-bin QKD systems with imaging detectors.