In-orbit Radiation Damage Characterization of SiPMs in the GRID-02 CubeSat Detector

Xutao Zheng; Huaizhong Gao; Jiaxing Wen; Ming Zeng; Xiaofan Pan; Dacheng Xu; Yihui Liu; Yuchong Zhang; Haowei Peng; Yuchen Jiang; Xiangyun Long; Di'an Lu; Dongxin Yang; Hua Feng; Zhi Zeng; Jirong Cang; Yang Tian; GRID Collaboration

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2022.167510

arXiv · 2205.10506

In-orbit Radiation Damage Characterization of SiPMs in the GRID-02 CubeSat Detector

Xutao Zheng·Huaizhong Gao·Jiaxing Wen·Ming Zeng·Xiaofan Pan·Dacheng Xu·Yihui Liu·Yuchong Zhang·Haowei Peng·Yuchen Jiang·Xiangyun Long·Di'an Lu·Dongxin Yang·Hua Feng·Zhi Zeng·Jirong Cang·Yang Tian·GRID Collaboration

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Abstract

Recently, silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have been used in several space-borne missions, owing to their solid state, compact size, low operating voltage, and insensitivity to magnetic fields. However, operating SiPMs in space results in radiation damage and degraded performance. In-orbit quantitative studies on these effects are limited. In this study, we present in-orbit SiPM characterization results obtained by the second detector of the Gamma-Ray Integrated Detectors (GRID-02), which was launched on 6 November 2020. An increase in dark current of $\sim$100 $\mu$A/year per SiPM chip (model MicroFJ-60035-TSV) at 28.5 V and 5 $^{\circ}$C was observed. Consequently, the overall noise level (sigma) of the GRID-02 detector increased by $\sim$7.5 keV/year. The estimate of this increase is $\sim$40 $\mu$A/year per SiPM chip at -20 $^{\circ}$C, highlighting the positive effect of using a cooling system.

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Xutao Zheng, Huaizhong Gao, Jiaxing Wen, Ming Zeng, Xiaofan Pan, Dacheng Xu, Yihui Liu, Yuchong Zhang, Haowei Peng, Yuchen Jiang, Xiangyun Long, Di'an Lu, Dongxin Yang, Hua Feng, Zhi Zeng, Jirong Cang, Yang Tian, GRID Collaboration. 2022-05-21. In-orbit Radiation Damage Characterization of SiPMs in the GRID-02 CubeSat Detector. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2022.167510

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