Citation
Guerra, Alberto del and Belcari, Nicola and Bisogni, Maria Giuseppina and Corsi, Francesco and Foresta, Maurizio and Guerra Gutiérrez, Pedro and Marcatili, Sara and Santos Lleo, Andres de and Sportelli, Giancarlo
(2011).
Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) as novel photodetectors for PET.
"Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment", v. 648
(n. Supple);
pp..
ISSN 0168-9002.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2010.11.128.
Abstract
Next generation PET scanners should fulfill very high requirements in terms of spatial, energy and timing resolution. Modern scanner performances are inherently limited by the use of standard photomultiplier tubes. The use of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) is proposed for the construction of a 4D-PET module of 4.8×4.8 cm2 aimed to replace the standard PMT based PET block detector. The module will be based on a LYSO continuous crystal read on two faces by Silicon Photomultipliers. A high granularity detection surface made by SiPM matrices of 1.5 mm pitch will be used for the x–y photon hit position determination with submillimetric accuracy, while a low granularity surface constituted by 16 mm2 SiPM pixels will provide the fast timing information (t) that will be used to implement the Time of Flight technique (TOF). The spatial information collected by the two detector layers will be combined in order to measure the Depth of Interaction (DOI) of each event (z). The use of large area multi-pixel Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) detectors requires the development of a multichannel Data Acquisition system (DAQ) as well as of a dedicated front-end in order not to degrade the intrinsic detector capabilities and to manage many channels. The paper describes the progress made on the development of the proof of principle module under construction at the University of Pisa.
