Possible layout solutions for the improvement of the dark rate of geiger mode avalanche structures in the GLOBALFOUNDRIES BCDLITE 0.18 μm CMOS technology

Abstract

Modern concepts of single photon or charged particle detection systems are based on geiger mode avalanche devices developed in CMOS technology. The key-problem encountered in the fabrication of these devices in CMOS is the dark rate level. The dark rate and single photon signal are not distinguishable. This sets also the limits of the application of geiger mode avalanche devices to single photon or charged particle detection systems. We report the design and fabrication of four possible layouts of these devices using the 0.18 μm BCDLite GLOBALFOUNDRIES process. The devices have an area of 50×50 μm2. They are characterized by a fast response time and an approximately 60 ns recovery time. The best topology exhibits an average dark rate as low as 3×103 kHz/mm2.

Silicon Photomultipliers With Area Up to 9 mm2 in a 0.35-$\mu$ m CMOS Process

“…An increase of the dark count rate was observed, for example, in the study at 0.35 μm and 0.09 μm CMOS technology node [24], [47]. Dark count rate values as high as 20 × 10 3 kHz/mm 2 were observed in our previous publications at the 180 nm CMOS technology node [35], [38] and in [6]. The dark count rate obtained in this paper is two order of magnitudes lower than at smaller CMOS scales.…”

“…Smaller scale CMOS processes report usually smaller breakdown voltages. By way of example, a breakdown voltage of 12 V was obtained in our previous studies at the 0.18 μm [35], [38] and in [6] CMOS node. This value depends on the high doping concentration of the standard CMOS wells at small scales, which ranges from 2 × 10 17 cm −3 to 5 × 10 17 cm −3 .…”

“…A larger gain is not always an advantage, as it is due to a larger capacitance and affects the timing structure of the signal. For example single photon detection structures obtained at the 0.18 μm CMOS technology node exhibits a decay time of approximately 60 ns [38]. However, commercial SiPMs with higher capacitance and gain exhibit longer decay times up to 300 ns for large area of 9 mm 2 [2].…”

“…Several tests of SiPM and SiPM-like detection structures were reported in the literature using 0.8 μm [11]- [19], 0.7 μm [20], 0.5 μm [21], [22], 0.35 μm [23]- [34], 0.18 μm [6], [35]- [38], 0.15 μm [39], 0.13 μm [40]- [45], 0.09 μm [46], [47] CMOS processes. Avalanche diode structures compatible with standard nanometer scale CMOS technology [48] and based on SiGe [49] are also being studied.…”

Design and measurement of Trans-PET basic detector module II using 6× 6 SiPM array for small-animal PET

“…Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) coupled scintillation detectors, also known as multi-pixel photon counters (MPPCs), were attracting considerable interest for the next generation PET, PET/MRI, autoradiography scanners [1][2][3], and even SPECT detector [4]. The advantages of SiPM include features like high gain (∼10 6 ), low bias voltage (20-70 V), high photo detection efficiency (PDE), compact size, insensitivity to magnetic fields (may be suitable for building PET/MRI systems), fast timing response (may be adequate for time-of-flight PET) [5][6][7], and low cost and CMOS compatibility [8,9]. Moreover, compatibility to fabricate into units of any size and shape was 2020 JINST 15 P09040 another additional feature of SiPM.…”