A Novel Electronics for Large Scale SiPM Array Readout and Advanced PET Applications

The Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) becomes a choice of photon sensors for advanced radiation detector development. However, reading out large-scale SiPM arrays is still a fundamental technical obstacle. We present a new method (named pi-PET electronics) to address this issue. Very different from conventional front-end electronics design, the key innovation of the new electronics is to include almost all functions of front-end readout electronics inside a low-cost FPGA. That not only simplifies the analog components and reduce the cost (with only one linear amplifier) but also provides powerful and flexible signal processes to enable applying different algorithms to both enhance the performance and add new real-time dark current measurement and calibration features.