A model based DC analysis of SiPM breakdown voltages

TL;DR

This paper introduces a DC model-based method for accurately determining SiPM breakdown voltages, distinguishing between avalanche turn-on and turn-off voltages, and analyzing their distribution through current-voltage measurements.

Contribution

It presents a novel DC analysis method that differentiates between two types of breakdown voltages in SiPMs and extracts their distribution from I-V curves.

Findings

V_{01} correlates with traditional breakdown voltage

V_{10} corresponds to the 'real' breakdown voltage

Both voltages and their standard deviation can be extracted from I-V curves

Abstract

A new method to determine the breakdown voltage of SiPMs is presented. It is backed up by a DC model which describes the breakdown phenomenon by distinct avalanche turn-on ($V_{01}$) and turn off ($V_{10}$) voltages. It is shown that $V_{01}$ is related to the 'breakdown voltage' that previous DC methods derive from simple reverse current-voltage measurements, while $V_{10}$ is the 'real' breakdown voltage commonly obtained from complex gain-voltage measurements. The proposed method reveals how the microcell population distributes around $V_{01}$ and $V_{10}$. It is found that if this distribution is assumed to be normal, then both voltages and even their standard deviation can readily be extracted from current-voltage curves. Measurements are in good agreement with the theoretical model.