Silicon photomultiplier with trench isolation
View Patent ↗A silicon photomultiplier maintains the photon detection efficiency high while increasing a dynamic range, by reducing the degradation of an effective fill factor that follows the increase of cell number density intended for a dynamic range enhancement.
1. A silicon photomultiplier, comprising:
a plurality of cell light-receiving parts where an electrical breakdown occurs due to photoexcitation; and
a trench formed between the plurality of cell light-receiving parts to separate the plurality of cell light-receiving parts,
wherein the trench comprises trench resistors and a trench isolation layer, the trench resistors filling an inside of the trench with a semiconductor or resistor, the trench isolation layer covering bottom surfaces and sidewalls of the trench resistors to function as a wall of the trench.
2. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 1 , further comprising:
a trench divider electrically separating the trench into segments.
3. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 1 , wherein a depth of the trench is around 20% to 80% of a depth of a buried layer of the silicon photomultiplier.
4. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 1 , wherein a distance between the trench resistor and a cell light-receiving part adjacent thereto ranges from around 30% to 300% of a depth of the trench.
5. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 1 , wherein each of the cell light-receiving parts has a hexagonal shape, and the cell light-receiving parts are arranged in a hexagonal lattice.
6. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 5 , wherein the trench has a honeycomb structure.
7. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 1 , wherein the trench isolation layer comprises single or multiple layers of any of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, and other insulating materials.
8. A silicon photomultiplier, comprising:
a plurality of cell light-receiving parts where an electrical breakdown occurs due to photoexcitation;
a trench formed between the plurality of cell light-receiving parts to separate the plurality of cell light-receiving parts; and
a trench divider electrically separating the trench into segments.
9. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 8 ,
wherein the trench comprises trench resistors, trench resistors filling an inside of the trench with a semiconductor or resistor, and a trench isolation layer functioning as a wall of the trench.
10. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 8 , wherein a depth of the trench is around 20% to 80% of a depth of a buried layer of the silicon photomultiplier.
11. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 9 , wherein a distance between the trench resistor and a cell light-receiving part adjacent thereto ranges from around 30% to 300% of a depth of the trench.
12. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 8 , wherein each of the cell light-receiving parts has a hexagonal shape, and the cell light-receiving parts are arranged in a hexagonal lattice.
13. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 12 , wherein the trench has a honeycomb structure.
14. The silicon photomultiplier of claim 9 , wherein the trench isolation layer comprises single or multiple layers of any of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, and other insulating materials.