Comparison of Three Pre-Amplifier Circuits for Time Readout of SiPM in TOF-PET Detectors

Abstract

The continuous performance improvement has made silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) very attractive for timing-related applications, such as time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF-PET) scanners. However, the large sensor capacitance makes it difficult to read out the fast components in the signal for precise timing. Therefore, investigation of suitable front-end readout circuits for SiPM is very important. In this paper, we constructed three potential pre-amplifier circuits, namely common-base amplifier, voltage amplifier and trans-impedance amplifier, using the latest discrete electronic components. Their timing performance for SiPM readout was experimentally evaluated by applying them in a test setup for TOF-PET detectors. At the same time, the primary characteristics of these pre-amplifiers were obtained by PSpice simulation. Combing the timing mechanism of TOF-PET detectors and the simulation results, their different behavior for timing readout can be well explained. The contribution of this paper is to reveal the relationship between the characteristics of pre-amplifiers and corresponding timing performance. The design considerations provided in the paper can be an effective guideline for the selection of type of circuits and components in different SiPM application scenarios.