Proof-of-Concept and User Perspective on Photon-to-Digital Converter Applications in Particle Physics
Photon-to-Digital Converters (PDCs) are photosensors with single photon resolution and large dynamic range that digitise the output of individual single-photon avalanche diodes directly on-chip, offering potential advantages with respect to analogue Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs). In this work, we assess the PDC technology from the perspective of particle physics, using early, low-coverage PDC prototypes for proof-of-concept studies in calorimetry and tracking. Under simple, but extrapolable, detector conditions, we qualitatively compare PDCs with SiPM-based systems to illustrate their potential in terms of detector performance and readout. As the first application of this technology to particle physics instrumentation, we place particular emphasis on the user perspective, reporting on the practical experience of operating PDCs, from setup and calibration to data handling, and highlighting the relative ease of integration compared to conventional SiPM readout. We discuss the potential of PDCs to address key challenges in large-scale instrumentation, and their prospective integration into next-generation high-energy physics experiments.