FANSIC: a Fast ANalog SiPM Integrated Circuit for the readout of large silicon photomultipliers

TL;DR

FANSIC is a specialized integrated circuit designed to enhance the speed and noise performance of large silicon photomultiplier arrays, enabling faster and more accurate light detection in applications where traditional photomultiplier tubes are still preferred.

Contribution

This paper introduces FANSIC, a novel ASIC that improves SiPM readout speed and noise handling, addressing limitations of large-area SiPMs in light sensing.

Findings

Achieved 3-5 ns FWHM signal response.

Enabled faster response through active summation stage.

Demonstrated CMOS 65 nm implementation results.

Abstract

Silicon photo-multipliers (SiPM) have been replacing traditional photomultiplier tubes in most light sensing applications. However, when large detection surface coverage is needed, photomultipliers (PMTs) are still the preferred choice. The main reasons are the sensor thermal noise and the duration of the fast component of its signal, both increasing with the sensor surface. In this work we propose an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), called Fast ANalog SiPM Integrated Circuit (FANSIC), for the readout of large SiPMs addressing these limitations. The ASIC has an active summation stage, which allows to divide a large detection surface into smaller ones offering faster response both in single ended and differential outputs. The high input bandwidth allows to reach full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) signals or the order of 3--5 ns which limits the impact of internal and external uncorrelated noise. The results of the first implementation of FANSIC, designed in CMOS 65 nm technology, is described in this paper.