Multi-channel programmable power supply with temperature compensation for silicon sensors

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Instrumentation
• Photonics

Background:

• Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs) are advanced photon detectors used in various scientific and medical fields.
• SiPM gain is highly sensitive to temperature fluctuations, causing significant performance variations (3-5%/°C).
• Outdoor experiments like the GRAPES-3 cosmic ray study face daily temperature swings of ~15°C, leading to >50% gain variation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a cost-effective, multi-channel solution for stabilizing SiPM gain under fluctuating environmental conditions.
• To enable reliable operation of SiPMs in outdoor or temperature-variable settings.
• To provide a programmable power supply (PPS) capable of real-time gain compensation.

Main Methods:

• Designed and implemented a low-cost, 16-channel programmable power supply (0-90 V).
• Integrated a closed-loop temperature feedback mechanism for automatic bias voltage adjustment per channel.
• Utilized high-precision voltage (6 mV) and current (1 nA) measurement capabilities.

Main Results:

• Achieved a SiPM gain stability of 0.5% over a 15°C temperature range using the developed PPS.
• Demonstrated the PPS's ability to compensate for significant temperature-induced gain variations.
• Validated the system's performance with Hamamatsu S10931-050P SiPMs.

Conclusions:

• The developed programmable power supply effectively stabilizes SiPM gain in variable temperature environments.
• This solution is crucial for reliable operation of SiPMs in demanding applications like cosmic ray detection.
• The design offers a versatile and cost-effective method for gain stabilization, even for devices with non-linear thermal responses.