Characterization of silicon photomultiplier readout designs for use in positron emission tomography systems

• Main Author: Liu, Chen-Yi
• Other Authors: Goertzen, Andrew (Physics & Astronomy)
• Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 2013
• Subjects: positron emission tomography
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/18339

Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes, or silicon photomultipliers, are promising light sensors for the next generation Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners. The sensor is being used in the scanner’s gamma ray detector to measure scintillation light. This thesis describes the test results of three gamma ray detectors that utilize silicon photomultipliers. The first one is a commercial detector, and the other two are custom made. The detectors are tested for their 511 keV photon energy and timing resolution, as well as their ability to measure light from small scintillator crystals. The two custom made detectors had smaller active area, but outperformed the commercial detector in energy resolution. The introduction of buffer amplifiers improved the timing resolution of one detector. All three detectors had their crystal decoding ability limited by signal multiplexing and the sensor’s dark noise. Finally, a detector design was proposed for the PET system being developed in our group.