Development of novel analytical and experimental approaches for an in-depth characterization and optimization of Silicon Photomultipliers

Objective

Sensors capable of detecting single photons are of critical importance for a very wide range of scientific and technical applications in such areas as medical imaging, biotechnology, high energy physics, scientific instrumentation, communication, and homeland security, including, in particular, positron emission tomography, flow cytometry, Cherenkov cosmic ray telescopy, laser ranging, optical time domain reflectometry or beam loss monitoring in particle accelerators and light sources.
Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs), in particular, are an emerging and very promising technology due to their photon number resolution at room temperature, insensitivity to magnetic fields, compactness and relatively low operating voltages. Furthermore, they are cheap to mass-produce, especially in comparison to conventional photomultiplier tubes. In order to evaluate their potential for a specific application, it is necessary to quantify their fundamental parameters as a particle detector, as well as in combination with scintillators or optical fibers used for signal generation and transport, in detail.
In the frame of this Marie Curie IIF project, a comprehensive analytical probabilistic model of the SiPM response shall be developed that will take the specific excess noises of crosstalk and afterpulsing, nonlinearities and saturation effects into account. Based on this model, a full set of analysis, measurement and characterization methods will then be built up. This will allow for selecting an optimum SiPM design and model for a specific application as accelerator, nuclear or medical physics instrumentation and thus contribute to an overall improvement of the respective application. Finally, reliability and mass testing approaches and techniques, applicable for large-scale projects and focused on the balance between accuracy, simplicity and cost efficiency, shall be developed.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

• natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics particle accelerator
• natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry metalloids
• natural sciences physical sciences optics fibre optics
• natural sciences physical sciences optics laser physics
• natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics photons

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

• FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IIF - Marie Curie Action: "International Incoming Fellowships"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IIF
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IIFR - International incoming fellowships (Return phase)

Coordinator