Silicon photomultiplier as an alternative for APD in PET/MRI applications

Growing interest in the development of multi pixel photon counters (MPPC), a solid state photodetector known as the silicon photomultiplier (SiPM), prompts the researchers to characterize their performance. The MPPC is a new type of photon-counting device made up of multiple avalanche photodiode (APD) pixels operating in Geiger mode. The aim of this work was to characterize the MPPC detectors, using a laser diode pulser and next the MPPC coupled to a 3×3×20 mm³ LSO pixel crystal, in positron emission tomography (PET) combined with magnetic resonance (MRI) systems applications. The light yield, number of excited pixels and pulse height resolution has been determined. In scintillation tests the measurements covered a determination of the energy resolution, non-proportionality of the light yield and the time resolution for 511 keV annihilation quanta for both types of 3×3 mm² S10362-33-025C / 050C Hamamatsu MPPC detector, with 14400 and 3600 pixels respectively.