Silicon carbide solid-state photomultiplier for UV light detection

A Silicon Carbide Solid-State Photomultiplier (SiC-PM) was designed, fabricated and characterized for the first time. A die size of 3x3 mm(2) has a 2x2 mm(2) pixelated photosensitive area on it. The pixelated area consists of 16 sub-arrays of 0.5x0.5 mm(2) with 64 pixels (60 mu m pitch) in each sub-array. Each individual pixel has an integrated quenching resistor made of poly-silicon. Optical measurements of the SiC-PM were performed using fast UV LED with a wavelength of 300 nm demonstrating Geiger mode operation. Output signal waveforms measured at temperatures from 20 degrees C to 200 degrees C indicated temperature dependent time constants. The discrete nature of output signals indicated the capability of the SiC-PM to detect single photons from a faint UV light flux.