Cari studenti,
nel ricordarvi il consueto appuntamento per il caffe' del mercoledi' alle 14,
vi segnalo il prossimo appuntamento del ciclo di seminari scientifici di sezione del mercoledì.
Saluti,
Francesco Forti
Many applications in high energy astrophysics, particle physics or medical imaging demand covering a large detection area with fast photosensors. The use of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) in such applications is often limited due to their small sensitive area: they are rarely available in sizes larger than 6 mm x 6 mm. A large number of SiPMs are then needed to cover large detection areas, but cost, noise and complexity of the system scale with the number of SiPMs employed. Photo-Trap provides a low-cost, low-noise solution to build large-area SiPM pixels. Photo-Trap employs a custom-designed 1-D photonic crystal and a wavelength-shifter plastic to optically trap the light until it reaches a SiPM. The pixel collects photons over an area that can be 10-100 times larger than that of commercial SiPMs, with the cost and noise of a single SiPM. I will describe the Photo-Trap idea, the proof-of-concept pixel we plan to build and comment (and hopefully get some feedback) on its expected performance and possible applications.