# Light Readout of Small Scintillators Using SiPM Photosensors

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how SiPM sensors can cause non-linear responses when detecting light from small scintillators at high energies.

## Contribution

The study identifies how scintillator decay time and SiPM microcell count affect non-linear behavior in radiation detection systems.

## Key findings

- Non-linearity in SiPM response depends on scintillator light decay time and SiPM microcell count.
- Saturation effects can be minimized by carefully selecting scintillator and SiPM combinations.
- Results help in designing radiation detection systems with better linearity.

## Abstract

What are the main findings?

A light readout from scintillators by means of a SiPM can or cannot give rise to non-linearity at a high energy, depending on the light decay time and on the number of SiPM microcells.

What is the implication of the main finding?

A careful choice of scintillator and SiPM can prevent or minimize non-linear behavior at a high deposited energy.

During the last two decades, relevant progress has been achieved in silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) technology, such that in an increasing number of radiation detection applications they are proposed as a viable alternative to traditional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). Applications where the light from tiny scintillating crystals is detected by a single SiPM raise the question of the possible non-linearity of the response due to the saturation of the number of microcells involved. In other cases, where larger scintillators subtend arrays of SiPMs, the same question could hold. This work tries to disentangle such a question with a realistic numerical approach and a few tests showing that the possible saturation effects depend on the interplay between the features of the scintillator and of the SiPM (array). The quantitative results of this analysis can likely be used to better plan future radiation detection systems and to highlight their linearity boundaries.