Characteristics dependence of the silicon photoelectronic multipliers on temperature

Abstract

The characteristics dependence on the ambient temperature for three types of silicon photoelectronic multipliers have been studied in this research. The prototypes of Si-photoelectronic multipliers with a p+–p–n+ structure produced by JSC Integral (Republic of Belarus), serially produced silicon photoelectronic multipliers KETEK РМ3325 and ON Semi FC 30035 have been used as objects of research. We present the setup diagram and research technique. Measurements of the photocurrent magnitude versus the illumination intensity, calculations of the critical and threshold intensities, and the dynamic range have been performed. We also present the photocurrent dependences on the illumination intensity at different ambient temperatures. As it was found, these dependences have a linear section, the length of which characterizes the critical intensity value, and the inclination angle of the linear section to the intensity axis characterizes the photodetector sensitivity to optical radiation. It has been determined that the temperature increase leads to an increase in the critical intensity value and to a decrease in the sensitivity value. We present the dependences of the threshold intensity on the overvoltage at different ambient temperatures. The dependence of the threshold intensity on overvoltage is most strongly pronounced when the supply voltage is below the breakdown voltage. It was found that the threshold intensity is increased with the temperature increase and the threshold intensity dependence on the temperature is the same for all investigated photodetectors. It was found that the dynamic range value is decreased with the temperature increase, which is caused by a more significant change in the threshold intensity as compared to the critical one. The results given in this article can be applied when developing and designing the tools and devices for recording optical radiation based on silicon photoelectronic multipliers.