Thermo-compensated silicon photo-multiplier with on-chip thermistor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9978885-B1
Application number	US-201615227500-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 3, 2016
Priority date	Jan 8, 2016
Publication date	May 22, 2018
Grant date	May 22, 2018

Abstract

A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) device is provided with a SiPM matrix fabricated on a substrate, a bias power supply connected to the SiPM matrix, and a compensation circuit coupled to the bias power supply. The bias power supply provides a bias voltage to the SiPM matrix. The compensation circuit can adjust the bias voltage applied to the SiPM matrix in response to temperature changes at the substrate. The compensation circuit includes a resistor fabricated on the substrate with the SiPM matrix. The resistor can have a resistance that varies in response to temperature changes at the substrate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) device comprising:
a substrate;
a SiPM matrix fabricated on the substrate; and
a resistor fabricated on the substrate separate from the SiPM matrix, the resistor having a predetermined temperature dependence greater than a temperature dependence of a breakdown voltage of the SiPM matrix, wherein the predetermined temperature dependence is in the range of about 1500 ppm per degree C. to about 20000 ppm per degree C., and wherein the resistor is configured to sense the temperature of the SiPM matrix in order to compensate for changes in temperature at the SiPM matrix.

2. The SiPM device of claim 1 , further comprising a compensation circuit configured to adjust a bias voltage applied to the SiPM matrix in response to temperature changes sensed by the resistor to provide a predetermined overvoltage to the SiPM matrix.

3. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) device comprising:
a substrate;
a SiPM matrix fabricated on the substrate;
a resistor fabricated on the substrate with the SiPM matrix, the resistor having a predetermined temperature dependence greater than a temperature dependence of a breakdown voltage of the SiPM matrix, wherein the predetermined temperature dependence is in the range of about 1500 ppm per degree C. to about 20000 ppm per degree C.; and
a compensation circuit configured to adjust a bias voltage applied to the SiPM matrix in response to temperature changes at the substrate to provide a predetermined overvoltage to the SiPM matrix, wherein the compensation circuit comprises an amplifier, steering circuit and reference voltage source, the steering circuit and reference voltage source fabricated on the substrate with the SiPM matrix and resistor.

4. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) device comprising:
a substrate;
a SiPM matrix fabricated on the substrate; and
a resistor fabricated on the substrate with the SiPM matrix, the resistor having a predetermined temperature dependence greater than a temperature dependence of a breakdown voltage of the SiPM matrix, wherein the predetermined temperature dependence is in the range of about 1500 ppm per degree C. to about 20000 ppm per degree C., and wherein the resistor is positioned on a perimeter of the substrate and substantially surrounds the SiPM matrix.

5. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) device comprising:
a substrate;
a SiPM matrix fabricated on the substrate;
a bias power supply connected to the SiPM matrix, the bias power supply configured to provide a bias voltage to the SiPM matrix; and
a compensation circuit coupled to the bias power supply, the compensation circuit configured to adjust the bias voltage applied to the SiPM matrix in response to temperature changes at the substrate, the compensation circuit comprising a resistor fabricated on the substrate separate from the SiPM matrix, the resistor being configured to have a resistance that varies in response to temperature changes at the substrate, and wherein adjustments of the bias voltage by the compensation circuit are based on changes in the resistance of the resistor.

6. The SiPM device of claim 5 , wherein the compensation circuit is configured to adjust the bias voltage applied to the SiPM matrix to provide a predetermined overvoltage to the SiPM matrix.

7. The SiPM device of claim 5 , wherein the resistor has a temperature coefficient of resistance that is greater than a temperature dependence of the SiPM matrix breakdown voltage by a factor of about 1.5 to about 10.

8. The SiPM device of claim 5 , wherein the resistor comprises one of an N-well or P-well type CMOS resistor.

9. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) device comprising:
a substrate;
a SiPM matrix fabricated on the substrate;
a bias power supply connected to the SiPM matrix, the bias power supply configured to provide a bias voltage to the SiPM matrix; and
a compensation circuit coupled to the bias power supply, the compensation circuit configured to adjust the bias voltage applied to the SiPM matrix in response to temperature changes at the substrate, the compensation circuit comprising a resistor fabricated on the substrate with the SiPM matrix, the resistor being configured to have a resistance that varies in response to temperature changes at the substrate, and wherein the resistor is positioned on a perimeter of the substrate.

10. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) device comprising:
a substrate;
a SiPM matrix fabricated on the substrate;
a bias power supply connected to the SiPM matrix, the bias power supply configured to provide a bias voltage to the SiPM matrix; and
a compensation circuit coupled to the bias power supply, the compensation circuit configured to adjust the bias voltage applied to the SiPM matrix in response to temperature changes at the substrate, the compensation circuit comprising a resistor fabricated on the substrate with the SiPM matrix, the resistor being configured to have a resistance that varies in response to temperature changes at the substrate, and wherein the resistor substantially surrounds the SiPM matrix.

11. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) device comprising:
a substrate;
a SiPM matrix fabricated on the substrate;
a bias power supply connected to the SiPM matrix, the bias power supply configured to provide a bias voltage to the SiPM matrix; and
a compensation circuit coupled to the bias power supply, the compensation circuit configured to adjust the bias voltage applied to the SiPM matrix in response to temperature changes at the substrate, the compensation circuit comprising a resistor fabricated on the substrate with the SiPM matrix, the resistor being configured to have a resistance that varies in response to temperature changes at the substrate, and wherein the resistor is a first resistor and the compensation circuit comprises a second resistor connected between the first resistor and ground.

12. The SiPM device of claim 11 , wherein the compensation circuit comprises a third resistor connected between the bias power supply and a cathode of the SiPM matrix.

13. The SiPM device of claim 12 , wherein the first resistor is connected to the cathode of the SiPM matrix, the bias power supply is configured to provide a fixed voltage output and the compensation circuit is configured to operate as voltage divider to adjust the fixed output voltage from the bias power supply to the bias voltage provided to the cathode of the SiPM matrix.

14. The SiPM device of claim 11 , wherein the compensation circuit comprises a third resistor connected to a voltage reference source and the first resistor.

15. The SiPM device of claim 14 , wherein the compensation circuit comprises an amplifier connected to the third resistor, the amplifier configured to provide a control signal to the bias power supply and wherein the bias power supply is configured to provide a bias voltage to the SiPM matrix based on the control signal from the amplifier.

16. A method for operating a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM), the method comprising:
providing a bias voltage to a SiPM matrix with a bias power supply, the SiPM matrix being fabricated on a substrate;
sensing a temperature at the SiPM matrix with a resistor, the resistor fabricated on the substrate separate from the SiPM matrix;
determining a change in the temperature of the SiPM matrix with a compensation circuit, the compensation circuit comprising the resistor and connected to the bias power supply; and
adjusting, with the compensation circuit, the bias voltage provided to the SiPM matrix by the bias power supply in response to a determination that the temperature at the

Assignees

• Kuznetsov Evgeny N
• Board Of Trustees Of The Univ Of Alabama For And On Behalf Of The Univ Of Alabama In Huntsville

Inventors

• Kuznetsov Evgeny N

Classifications

• G01J2001/4466

  Avalanche · CPC title

• H01L31/02027 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G01J1/44 Primary

  Electric circuits {(for command of an exposure part G03B7/02)} · CPC title

• H01L27/14643

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G01J2001/448

  Array [CCD] · CPC title