One-dimensional single-photon position-sensitive silicon photomultiplier and its application in Raman spectroscopy.

ABSTRACT

We present a one-dimensional (1-D) single-photon position-sensitive silicon photomultiplier (PS-SiPM) that can perform both photon number and position discriminations. The device, which features epitaxial quenching resistors and a continuous cap resistive layer for charge division, possesses two cathodes on top and one anode at the bottom. The PS-SiPM shows an active size of 2.2 mm × 2.2 mm and micro avalanche photodiode cell pitch of ~10 µm. The position measurement error (PME) and position resolution of the device are analyzed. The PME with low mean photoelectron number of approximately 0.11 is 29.6 ± 27.3 µm. The single-photon position resolution is 393.4 µm. When the photoelectron number increases from 1 to 7, the position resolution is improved from 393.4 µm to 56.2 µm. The application of the PS-SiPM in Raman spectroscopy for carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) at room temperature shows advantages of both CCD (rapid measurement) and photomultiplier tube (high gain, fast photon response, and simple readout electronics). This novel device concept exhibits potential as a low-cost and high-performance detector for various laser spectroscopies.